


What Happens Next

by GrizzlyWaterFrame



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Clementine is a badass, F/F, Fluff and Angst, One-Legged Clementine (Walking Dead), Post-Finale, Save Violet Route, Tenn is dead RIP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24427486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrizzlyWaterFrame/pseuds/GrizzlyWaterFrame
Summary: After dealing with the Delta, Clementine is living peacefully at Texas Two with AJ, her girlfriend, and her new family. However, a new threat arises and Clem finds herself solving everyone's problems once again.
Relationships: Clementine/Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Comments: 40
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first and probably only fic for this fandom, but Clem is a bad bitch and I couldn't resist writing this. The first couple chapters are kind of slow as I am introducing everyone and everything, but it picks up I promise.

Three weeks had passed since the conflict with the raiders had officially cooled down, and so far things had actually been going pretty smoothly. Well, as smooth as things can be in an apocalypse. 

Despite her new “condition”, Clementine confidently led the troubled youth at Ericson’s alongside her girlfriend, Violet. The majority of the herd that the boat explosion had attracted had passed through the woods and were no longer a threat besides a few stragglers that they would take care of at the gates. Luckily, handling walkers was easier than ever with their recently acquired supplies from the Delta, which included a hefty arsenal of guns and ammunition. However besides Clem and AJ, most of the kids avoided using the weapons. Clem had still required everyone to train with them in case the time ever came they needed to use said firearms, just like Lilly had done at the Motor Inn back when it all started.

Lilly had a lot of faults, and in the end Clementine knew that the woman she used to think of as family had changed into a monster. That didn’t stop Clementine from ordering AJ not to shoot her though, but mostly because she couldn’t bear to see her goofball change as Lilly did. This world had taken and twisted too many lives already, and Clem would be damned if she let it get it’s grasp on AJ.

Speaking of AJ, the little boy had been attached to Clementine like a leech since they had been back. She couldn’t be mad, she completely understood the boy and his anxiousness after almost losing her. It reminded her of how she always would go to Lee whenever she got scared. Lee would always hold her and promise things would be okay, and little Clem always believed him despite the true uncertainty behind the words. AJ wasn’t quite as gullible as her past self but he seemed happy and hopeful just knowing that she was still with him. The clinginess wasn’t all bad of course, since it also was a great help when trying to get around on the _very_ uncomfortable crutches that the old nurse’s station had kept around.

The crutches were very confining, it took a lot of Clementine’s independence away from her which she found herself dreading frequently, but she hid that from everyone. Everyone except her girlfriend. After the whole ordeal with the raiders, Clem saw a side of Violet that she knew no one else would ever see. Violet was always attentive and caring to Clementine, making sure to be standing in her doorway when she fell asleep and when she woke up in the morning to end and start her day with loving kisses and words of affection. These moments were what Clementine treasured most, ignoring the few times AJ would be there and tell them they were “being gross”.

Violet tried her best to make sure Clementine never felt like a burden to the group which Clem once expressed one night gazing at the stars on the balcony outside Marlon’s old office, saying how she wished she could go out and hunt or do anything besides sitting on her ass most of the day. Violet then proceeded to assure her that training kids to use guns, creating watch schedules, strategizing defense plans, rationing supplies, and helping Ruby at the greenhouse was most certainly not “sitting on her ass”.

Violet could see where she was coming from though. Clementine had been a protector, a _survivor,_ for the majority of her life and now she couldn’t even move at a pace faster than a walker. Violet admired how this never stopped her girlfriend from still sharpening her skills with a pistol and a bow. Clem would practice shooting her gun with the support of one crutch, and was now working her way up to being able to balance on her one leg for long enough to fire a few arrows from her bow. It was a work in progress but if anyone could do it, it was Clementine.

On top of the guns and ammunition they scavenged from the SS Fitzgerald, the school found a decent supply of bandages, pain killers, canned food, batteries, and of course, the horses. After burning the hay as a distraction the night of the battle, they had all doubted they would have the right supplies to care for the two horses they had taken with them during their escape. But with some of the supplies they raided and a promise to get the greenhouse running to harvest fruit and vegetables in the Fall, they were able to sustain the new source of transportation. Ruby seemed to have experience with the animals and took sole responsibility for them, which no one minded besides Aasim who now had to compete with these four legged creatures for his girlfriend’s attention.

With the horses, the school was able to expand their hunting grounds and even go out a bit further to scavenge for supplies in old buildings and houses that were more than a few miles away from Texas Two. With a steady flow of food coming in, a bountiful stash of supplies, and no raiders to disturb them, the school truly seemed like it was moving forward from all the tragedies it had faced, and ready for good things to come.

For the first time since Lee died, Clementine not only had hope, but she had a home.


	2. Chapter 2

_Six months later.._

Winter had passed and Summer was approaching the school. Before Clementine had arrived, there was genuine concern that they wouldn’t have supplies to make it through the snowy and cold months. However with Clem and Violet’s leadership, and the entire school working together like a well oiled machine, they made it through the season with ease.

Clementine had just awoken from a peaceful night of rest. She still had quite a few nightmares these days. Flashbacks from the Ranch, Lee’s death, and every shitty thing that had ever happened and could happen seemed to haunt her dreams endlessly. It helped that she now spent her nights beside her girlfriend. Two months after the raid, AJ had passed through his clingy phase (for the most part) and was convinced that he was old enough to have his own room. Clementine gladly took the opportunity to persuade Violet into letting her move into her cozy room at the school. Well, it didn’t take much persuading.

_“So AJ has been talking a lot lately about having his own space-” Clem began until cut off by her suddenly enthusiastic lover._

_“Yes.”_

_“Vi, you didn’t even let me finish.”_

_“You. Me. One bed. Clem you don’t even need to ask.” Violet simply stated. That same day, Clementine officially moved out of her and AJ’s room and in with Violet._

Smiling to herself at the memory, Clementine rolled out of their bed, made up of two single mattresses smooshed together to make a queen size bed. She noticed that her bed partner had already awoken and went out to start her day, but not before leaving Clem a warm cup of instant coffee on the nightstand next to her. After drinking most of the energy booster and lacing up her boot, she situated herself into her new and improved form of transport. A wheelchair.

A Willy and AJ invention, the two boys spent a decent amount of time during the winter months constructing an apocalypse handy wheelchair and surprised her with it the day the school had deemed Christmas (no one really knew what day or month it was anymore). 

_“Stay right there Clem! Willy and I have one more gift to give!” AJ had spoken excitedly._

_“Alright goofball, not like I’m really going anywhere until someone hands me my crutches anyway.” The survivor joked, keeping the mood light as the two boys rolled in what appeared to be a wheelchair with a couple.. Modifications._

_“Surprise!” They exclaimed._

_The chair was what a standard one would look like, except there were hook attachments to the back of it for Clem to place her bow and quiver, and even her crutches if she needed to switch out. In addition to this, they stitched in a pocket on the side of the chair for extra magazines for her gun._

The chair proved to be very helpful in getting around the school faster, although Clem still wasn’t going to go outside the gates to test it against walkers since the risk just wasn’t worth it to her. She still used her crutches from time to time since she knew she needed additional movement and activity to keep her from becoming too out of shape. 

Once in the chair, Clementine rolled herself out of the room and was greeted by the beaming sunlight through the windows that faced the courtyard. She made her way outside and noticed it was still quite early for most of the occupants of the school, so only those on watch or who were scheduled to get food were up. Ruby was up on the gates looking out for walkers, while Aasim had just slipped out to fish with Rosie.

“Mornin’ hot stuff.” Clem heard from behind her as Violet approached and bent down for a quick peck.

“Good morning yourself, someone looks extra chipper this morning.” She smiled back, suddenly missing the feeling of her girlfriend’s lips on hers.

“Chipper? I think the only other person I have ever heard use that phrase was my Grandpa.” Violet teased.

“You callin’ me old? Because last time I checked you’re the sugar mama in this relationship.”

“That would require me to have money Clem, and I’m afraid all I have to offer you is my love and witty remarks. Oh, and a nice ass.” 

“I do like your ass.” Clem sighed jokingly in agreement.

“Damn straight you do.” Violet said as she gave her girlfriend a swift embrace from behind.

“You still haven’t told me why you seem to be so happy this morning. Don’t you have to check traps with Willy today? I thought you hated doing that.”

“You’re right, I much rather do some fishing or take out some walkers on the perimeter but AJ and I found something tucked away in one of the old activity closets last night and today we are gonna try it out.” 

“And what would that-” Clementine was about to ask before a small blue piece of foam flew past her face.

“Damn it AJ, I thought you were gonna at least wait for me to try those bad boys out!” Violet exclaimed in a light tone, not actually mad at the kid.

It took Clementine a good minute to realize what exactly AJ had in his hand, and what he was handing to Violet.

“You did not actually just find those lying around here.” Clem said in disbelief as she stared at the two plastic guns her favorite people were holding.

“It’s Nerf or Nothin’ Clem!” Violet joked as she took a quick shot at her girlfriend who just sat in her wheelchair shaking her head. Of course AJ and Violet would be the ones to find these and proceed to pull them out and have a mini Nerf war in the courtyard at seven in the morning.

Clementine had a fond memory of these toys in her early childhood days. The boy next door and her always would have battles from their tree houses in their backyards. However, that memory wasn’t what was making her smile and laugh, but seeing her goofball and her sweet girlfriend, whose hard ass persona seemed to fade away a little bit more and more everyday, playing with each other and having fun. 

Hours later, and after many of the kids at the school took turns pelting each other with plastic bullets, the group settled around the table for some of Omar’s classic rabbit stew. They all ate peacefully, cracking a few jokes, and discussing some ideas on how to create some sort of cooling system for the approaching season. Apparently, Summers in the stuffy school were worse than the cold winters when there was little that could be done about the heat. Despite not having any source of power besides some batteries, Willy, who seemed to be turning into quite the engineer, was supposedly brewing up some sort of fan contraption that could filter cool air throughout the entire school without electricity. Clem wasn’t sure if the idea would actually work in reality, but she had hope in the boy.

Following dinner, Violet and Clementine retired to their room, ready for some rest after a long day of Nerf wars and doing some actual work around the school of course. Violet helped her out of her wheelchair and the two cozied up to each other under the covers. Usually, they would stay up for a while longer and talk, but tonight it appeared Vi passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow. Clementine smiled to herself as she looked down at her love, looking so peaceful. Moments like this almost made Clem forget that she was living in an apocalypse. Almost.

It was odd. She hadn’t felt this in a long time, but a cold started to settle on her skin despite the warmth emitting from her partner. A storm was coming. Clementine ignored the feeling, and forced herself to fall asleep.

Her sleep didn’t seem to last long however, as she suddenly found herself being shaken frantically by.. AJ?

“AJ, what are you doing here, what’s wrong?” Clementine questioned as her survival instincts kicked in and she began quickly getting her things together and grabbing anything she would need to face any threat. While doing this, she noticed Violet wasn’t in the room, she reminded herself that her girlfriend did have watch tonight but found that didn’t make her feel any better.

“Clem we have to hurry, crutches or chair?” AJ responded, trying to help his guardian up as soon as possible.

“Why? AJ what is going on?” Clementine continued to ask, about to strangle the boy if he didn’t start making sense soon.

“There are bad people in the school.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted the first two chapters today instead of just one because they were both pretty short. The chapters will get longer as the story goes on. Anyway, hope you enjoy it so far! Comments are always welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

_“There are bad people in the school.”_

The words flipped a switch in Clementine that she didn’t even know she still had inside of her. She took her gun off safety and had it at the ready as she maneuvered out of the room in her wheelchair. AJ stayed close behind her as they slowly made their way through the halls, he had his weapon on him as well.

“I was on patrol while Violet was on look out, and the bad people were wearing all black so Violet and I hadn’t seen them sneak in from the woods. They all have rifles and have already pulled out almost everyone from their rooms and have them lined up in the courtyard. I was able to sneak past them and came to make sure they didn’t get to you yet.” AJ whispered to Clem as she tried to analyze the best way to deal with the situation.

“How many of them are there? Have they said what they wanted?” 

“I only counted four of them, and they just kept yelling to get everyone outside.” AJ replied.

All of the additional guns and ammunition were locked up in the cellar so there was no way to get to those if they were occupying the courtyard. And after peeking through one of the windows in the hallway, Clem could see that the attackers did indeed have everyone at the school lined up on their knees with rifles pointed at them. They appeared to be tying everyone’s hands behind their backs with zip ties as well. She could hear the voices of her friends shouting vulgar words at the offenders who appeared to be struggling to get a certain blonde to stop moving so they could get her zip ties on.

Clementine had been in a situation like this before, back at the ski lodge when she was still with Luke and Kenny and all of them. With that experience, she knew quite well that she was outgunned and outmanned, and trying anything from her end would only lead to more deaths. No, she couldn’t fight them head on or from the shadows, so the only thing she could do was show herself and hopefully find a way to negotiate with them. From the venomous words coming from Violet, Aasim, and Ruby, she could tell that they weren’t keeping cool heads in the current predicament. Clem couldn’t blame them though, besides the raiders, none of them had ever had to talk their way out of life threatening situations like this one or been through many chaotic experiences that teach you how to keep control when the world falls apart around you.

“AJ, I’m going out there to try to negotiate with these guys and find out what they want. I know that these men are threatening our home, but if we shoot or do anything to make them feel threatened, they could open fire on our friends. I need you to stay down and stay out of sight, I won’t let them take you too if things go South.” The girl explained to her boy, hoping he would understand.

“But Clem, what if they kill you or Violet or Louis or anybody else out there? We have to do something!” AJ fought back.

“Alvin Junior, this isn’t up for debate, I need you to trust me on this and not come out of hiding until you are sure the bad men are gone or until I come to get you.” Clem said sternly. And with a defeated sigh, the boy complied and went to go hide out in one of the rooms nearby.

“Clem.. just.. Please don’t die. I don’t wanna almost lose you again.” He whimpered.

“I’ll do my best goofball, I love you.” Clem whispered as she rushed the boy into hiding and then made her way out into the courtyard herself, opting to use her crutches that had been attached to the back of her chair. She wanted to talk to these assholes at eye level.

As she made her way outside, she made eye contact with Violet whose face immediately dropped as soon as she saw her girlfriend coming out, pleading for her to turn around before they saw her. Louis caught onto what Violet was looking at too and she swore he would have started screaming at her if his tongue hadn't been cut out. But Clementine wasn’t thinking like a lover, or like a friend right now. Her mind had reverted to her primal instincts of survival, and the only thing she had on her mind was to protect what was her’s and get rid of any motherfucker who stood in her way.

“Is this everybody?” One of the thugs demanded from Ruby as he pointed his gun at her face. Clementine quickly noticed that these guys were not your average bandits. All four of them were outfitted in the same black armor. Black leather boots, cargo pants, and even black kevlar vests over their shirts. And just as AJ had observed, they all had assault rifles. Fuck.

“You missed one.” Clementine confidently said as she announced herself to everybody. She made her way over to the group on her crutches, her pistol tucked in the back of her waistband although she knew it wouldn’t be of any use.

“A cripple? Well hurry your ass up and get in line with the rest of your comrades before I start shooting.” The man threatened, he had long blonde hair that reached his shoulders.

“You know when you take hostages you’re supposed to make some demands and not just tie them up and hold them at gunpoint. This your first time?” Clementine replied snarkily, giving the attackers an indication that she wasn’t afraid of them. 

“Listen hear kid, you are going to quit it with the back talk and get your ass over here before I take your other leg.” He replied, with aggravation in his tone.

“Why don’t you tell me what you want and why you are here. Then maybe I’ll cooperate.” She replied coolly, as she stayed put where she was.

“Clem, what the hell-” Violet started to shout out to her until she was cut off by a reply from one of the other invaders who seemed to be the one in charge by the way he carried himself, he had short black hair with a dark beard almost as long as Kenny’s had been.

“We came here for information, and we won’t - we can’t leave until we have gotten it.” The leader expressed to Clementine as he approached her. Although his voice was demanding, she could tell he was more civil than his buddy and was the one she should be negotiating with. Her friends started to get riled up from the interaction.

“Stay the fuck away from her!” Violet yelled.

“If you got questions just ask you asshole!” Aasim shouted at the same time.

“I’ll blow your stupid head up if you don’t let us go!” Willy screamed not so gracefully.

“Enough!” The leader yelled with a booming voice. “Carter, put some duct tape over the talkative ones, the only person I’m interested in talking to is the girl right here. What’s your name?” He commanded of his cohort as he turned his attention to her.

“Clementine.” She replied, playing along.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Clementine, I’m Drew. I apologize for the sudden occupation of your little school here, but we have a very important mission to complete and we aren’t one’s to take risks.”

“Can’t say the sentiment is shared, you got some nerve coming in here guns blazing.” She replied aggressively, but cooled her tone in order to keep things calm. “If all you need is information then I’d be happy to tell you what you need and then you can get the fuck out of here.” 

“Very well. You see less than a few miles from here, there was a ship docked. That ship was of great interest to my group, and now all that remains of it is debris and a crew made up of the dead. Any idea how that happened?” 

“I blew it up.” Clem answered shortly.

Slightly taken aback by the quick response from the girl, Drew scoffed in slight disbelief.

“Let’s say I believe that a kid with one leg could pull that off, why on Earth would you do that?”

“Don’t play dumb. If your group is really interested in that ship then you damn well know what was going on there. Do you really need some “kid” to put the pieces together for you?” 

“It doesn’t matter what I believe happened. I came here for facts, and I ain’t leaving until I get them.” Drew demanded, but before she could respond, one of the intruders who had slipped out without notice came bursting into the courtyard with AJ in his grasp. 

“I swept the entire school, this is the only one left in there.” The man reported to Drew.

The hidden threat seemed to put the leader over the edge. He made a beeline towards AJ with a vicious look in his eyes and maternal nature took over as Clementine leapt at Drew to keep him from hurting AJ. It was a struggle for her to keep her balance with one leg but she fought the man regardless until he grabbed her by her arm and whipped her to the ground. The strong yank on the fabric of her sleeve caused the raggedy old piece of cloth to tear slightly, suddenly stopping Drew in his tracks.

“Well I haven’t seen one of those in a long time.” He stated, referring to the branding on Clementine’s arm. AJ, still struggling in the grasp of the unknown attacker, started to yell.

“Stay away from her! If you hurt her I’ll kill you!”

“You know, I actually believe you. But I came here for information, and it seems fate has smiled upon us because I have found something even better. Boys, looks like we got some New Frontier scum. Boss will be more than happy to have you for some questioning in regards to our boat problem, and whatever operation you’re working here. Check the others for brands.” He ordered.

After a search of all of the school’s occupants, it was noted that the only one affiliated with the group was Clementine. 

“Pull up the truck and someone get me something to tie this one up with, we’re taking her back to base.” The soldiers followed their orders and Clementine was zip tied and dragged to the old mover’s truck that had been turned into an armored vehicle.

Her eyes searched the scene until they made contact with her lover’s. Violet was fighting so damn hard to get out of her restraints, trying to to scream through the tape covering her mouth, but it was all no use. Clem mouthed a desperate “I love you” to her girlfriend before the butt of a rifle on the back of her head made her vision go black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Chapters just keep getting longer from here so the next one will be posted in a couple of days.


	4. Chapter 4

Violet watched as Clementine was knocked unconscious and dragged into the back of a truck by the assholes who had invaded their school. She was using all of her force to try to break free from her restraints and her throat was becoming raw from the screams she was trying to get out through the duct tape covering her mouth. Without a second thought, she got to her feet and started to run after the vehicle, but a warning shot that flew right past her head made her common sense take over and stop. Violet had never felt so helpless as the attackers climbed into their vehicle and sped off out of view.

AJ, who had been tossed aside and was just regaining his bearings, started to run to the gates after his guardian, but Louis reached him first and his eyes told the little boy that it was too late. AJ cooperated, surprisingly, and helped remove the duct tape from everyone’s mouth.

“Fuck, they - they just took her! We can’t let them get away!” Aasim gasped out as soon as his ability to speak was returned to him.

Ruby cut in, with a more pragmatic tone. “We can’t just run after them, they are probably miles away by now. We need to regroup and make a plan, starting with AJ grabbing a knife and getting these zip ties off of us all.” 

AJ did as he was told and ran into the school to get the cutting utensil. Everyone else bashfully turned their heads to Violet who just sat on her knees staring out into the woods, defeated. She didn’t say a word, didn’t look at anyone else or jump to give orders like she would usually do as the co-leader of the group.

No, she just sat there in shock. Louis slowly approached her with the knife AJ had brought to them once he had freed all his friends. The mute boy was careful as he laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to break her out of whatever trance she was in. It worked, and Violet just shook her head and stayed silent as Louis cut off her restraints. 

“If we make a break for it now we could still catch them or find a trail!” AJ yelled out, just trying to get someone to do something.

“They cut our horses loose and scared them off into the woods, Kiddo. If we want any chance of following their trail and getting Clementine back, we’re gonna need to go wrangle them up first.” Ruby pointed out.

The mention of her love’s name was all it took to get Violet to snap back to reality and take control over the situation.

“First, everyone is going to go to the cellar and arm yourselves with a gun and a loaded magazine in case these fuckers come back or if there are more of them in the forest. Ruby, Aasim, and Omar, you three are going to find our horses and get them back here as fast as possible. AJ and Willy, you two are going to keep look out here, and shoot any bastard that tries to make their way into our home. Louis and I will try to figure out where these assholes took Clem. Any questions?” Violet ordered.

Everyone nodded in understanding, not even daring to joke when the life of one of their own was on the line. As they all went out to do their task, Louis and Violet made their way to the office to think everything over.

Once away from the group and only with her best friend, Violet let the gravity of the whole ordeal wash over her. She was never a crier, she absolutely detested crying since she always thought it was weak. But nothing could stop the tears of fear and anger from falling as she thought about her girlfriend and how she was gone. Not even two hours ago she was kissing Clem on the head while she slept as she left to start watch. Now she was just fucking gone, and it was partially her fault. If she had been paying more attention, she could have seen the intruders before they got the jump on them. Maybe if she had fought her restraints harder or said something different then Clementine wouldn’t have been taken. If she had just-

Her thoughts were cut off by a note slipped in front of her view. 

_This isn’t your fault. She wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for this, she would want us to keep our heads on straight and go after the ones who are really to blame here._

Louis gave a weak smile to his long time friend as she read his note and regained her composure. He knew how hard it must be for her, Clementine was one of his best friends and he felt fucking awful, and he knew she meant a million times more to Violet so he couldn’t even imagine what she was going through.

“You’re right. I just - fuck.” Violet muttered. “I have no idea what we’re supposed to do, and every minute we sit here twiddling our thumbs is another minute they have a head start on us. She was always the one who was good at making plans like this.”

_So what would she do?_ Louis scribbled out.

“She would stop fretting over things she can’t change and analyze the situation and what her options are now.” Violet answered, more for herself than for Louis. “Alright, so we know that in that truck they are going to be way ahead of us, there’s no point in trying to catch up with them once we get our horses back. Unlike last time we were raided, there is no one left behind to interrogate so we just have to work with what we know. These guys are part of a group, probably a big one from the quality of their gear.”

_There are no known groups near us for miles. That means that these guys are from really far away. And if they were after the Delta, they could be from one of the giant settlements that have been at war._ Louis deduced.

“Right, but we still have no idea where those settlements even are or have met anyone involved with them besides the raiders from last year. I think all we can do is wait for the horses to get back and then immediately start searching for any tracks that could lead us in their direction.” 

_Agreed._ Louis wrote, but he could tell from the look in Violet’s eyes that she didn’t like this plan, didn’t like the fact that they had to wait and just pray they could actually find any trace. He hated it too, but it was their only option.

\-------------------------

Clementine was awoken when the truck seemed to run over a giant pothole. Or a walker. You could never tell these days. The second thing she noticed besides the bump in the road, was the giant bump on the back of her head that was most likely the cause of the raging headache she had.

“She’s up.” A voice said. Clementine recalled this being the one named Carter, his long blonde hair was pulled into a tiny man-bun unlike the night before. 

Taking view of her surroundings a bit more, Clem realized that her restraints were still on her and she was curled up in the corner of the truck with two guns trained on her. One being Carter’s.

She scoffed, “I don’t know if it’s a compliment to me or a slam to you that you guys seem to be so afraid of me even though I’m crippled and tied up.” Clementine teased her captors. 

“She’s right you idiots, and even if she did make a move are you really gonna open fire in the back of a truck? I swear I always get assigned the stupid ones.” Drew spoke up from the front seat of the truck as he got up and made his way to the back, gesturing for his subordinates to lower their weapons. 

“We’re just being cautious Drew, you know what they say about those New Frontier people. Fucking psychos.” Carter retorted.

Ignoring the comment, Drew crouched in front of Clementine and looked her over. “Hope we didn’t knock your lights out too good, gonna need you all together in the head for when the Boss wants to speak to you.”

“I don’t give a fuck about you or your boss.” She spat back, not one of her best comebacks but she was getting fed up.

“Look, I know we didn’t really get off to a good start, but I wish you no ill will unlike my friends here so I’ll let you in on a little secret. If you cooperate, things will be a lot easier on you.” 

“Not much of a secret.” 

“Then take it as advice, because some of the people in my group aren’t as nice as me.”

Before Clementine could say anything more, the driver indicated that they had arrived at their destination and Drew made his way back to the front seat of the truck. She couldn’t see what was happening up front, but she could hear the sound of gates opening and then the truck proceeded to move forward.

The back of the trunk opened up and before Clementine could even consider making a move, there were guns trained on her to keep her from trying to escape. Carter grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out, which proved to be difficult to do since she only had one leg to balance on.

Seeing the struggle, Drew cut in. “Jesus, just untie her and give back her crutches, it’s not like she can make a run for it with them.” 

The zip ties were cut off and Clementine immediately shook out her wrists and arms to loosen up her muscles. The survivor could tell that it was late morning already, meaning that they had been driving for a few hours before getting here. There was definitely no way she could make her way back to the school even if she were able to escape. Shit.

“Take her to the med bay for screening. I have to report in.” Drew continued to order and Carter obeyed, directing Clementine as she walked on her crutches, keeping her at gunpoint to be safe.

Clementine took the opportunity to scan her surroundings, memorizing the layout of the area. Though she quickly realized that the “base” she had been taken to was enormous. This wasn’t a base - this was a settlement. One that was probably triple the size of Prescott. There were armed guards all around the perimeter, and they even had guards patrolling the streets. The specific area she was in was obviously made for the sole purpose of being a loading zone since there were nine more trucks identical to the one she had been brought in lined up by one of the buildings.

“Stop looking around, keep your eyes forward.” Carter ordered.

“I’m just curious, where the Hell are we anyway?” She replied, not threatened at all by the man watching over her.

“I’m not answering any of your questions. They say you New Frontier folk are ruthless murderers and I ain’t gonna risk it even with your disability.”

“You know the New Frontier weren’t all killers and assholes. There were innocent people, families even, who joined just trying to survive.”

“Yea and all those families died at Richmond, killed by the murderous fuckers who led them. Don’t try to talk your way out of this - I know you ain’t no innocent. People underestimate you cause you’re young, cause you got one leg. But that’s their mistake, because anyone who made it this long in this world ain’t innocent.” Carter said sharply.

Clementine saw where the man was coming from. She once believed that same thing until she made it to the school. Until she found her new family, who took her and AJ in and showed them kindness that she didn’t know still existed. She felt sorry for Carter, he was one of the many who had lost hope in this dying world. More so, she felt grief for herself because despite the blessings of the past months at Texas 2, a part of her still thought as Carter did. Still viewed everything and everyone as a threat until proven otherwise, still slept with a gun by her side every night, still scanned a room anytime she walked in to look for threats, even her own bedroom. There were things that all the kindness in the world couldn’t fix, and from the tone of Carter’s voice, he knew this too.

A voice broke in, disrupting her thoughts. “This is it, when they’re done with you in there I’ll be back to collect you.” Carter said as she entered a run down clinic where she was taken by a couple of “doctors”.

They spent a couple of hours asking her medical related questions and examining her. Now she was in an examination room alone, waiting for the doctor to come back with her medical screening report. Clementine was impressed, she could tell that this group was not only well supplied with weapons, but with medical equipment. The last time she had been in a room so clean was the dentist appointment she had a week before the apocalypse started.

Suddenly, she heard voices outside. They were arguing about something, but she couldn’t make out any of the words they were saying. A new doctor, one of the voices from outside, came into the room, looking a little frustrated but in his hand was a syringe filled with an unknown liquid. This was not a good sign, Clementine could cooperate with questions and exams, but there was no way in Hell she was letting these bastards inject her with random drugs.

She scanned the area for something she could use as a weapon, but they had obviously outsmarted her in that regard, keeping anything that could be used for that purpose out of reach. That didn’t stop her from getting onto her one good leg and pushing back the doctor approaching her.

“Damn it, restrain her!” He shouted as two armed guards rushed in and grabbed her by the arms, holding her down as the doctor filled her veins with the drug. For the second time in twenty four hours, her vision started to fade as she lost consciousness. Her last thoughts drifted to Violet and AJ, she had to stay strong, and she vowed to do whatever it takes to get back to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all are enjoying the series so far! Proof reading this really made me notice how much I swear but oh well, it be like that sometimes.


	5. Chapter 5

When Clementine awoke she was still in the examination room but she was alone once again. Her head felt slightly foggy from whatever drug they had given her, but besides that she felt normal. There was also an IV attached to her which probably meant she had been out for a while if they had needed to keep fluids going into her system. 

Once her head fully cleared, she decided she needed to get out of here as soon as possible. Even if she wouldn’t be able to get back to the school on her own, she wouldn’t stay in a place that injected her with mysterious things and was treating her like a prisoner. Clem knew she would have to be stealthy about it since there was no way she could just force her way out with all of the guards. While she started to sit up, she accidentally knocked the IV stand over. Before it could hit the floor and make any noise, she instinctively hopped off the table and grabbed it.

“Drug me all you want but you can’t ruin these reflexes.” Clementine whispered to no one but herself, as she carefully put the stand back up.

Then it hit her. 

She was standing.

On two feet.

She slowly started to look down, not believing what was happening. 

_This must be a dream._ She thought.

But once her eyes made their way to where, well where nothing was supposed to be, there was a _very high_ quality prosthetic attached to her knee. Clementine didn’t really know what to make of it, it appeared to be made mostly out of metal type materials and the sleeve that fit around her knee was designed to fit perfectly to her, although there were a couple of strap type contraptions to tighten or loosen the prosthetic.

She started to walk around on it, noting how the “foot” had been shaped as a normal foot would be and it had hinges that could bend with how she took her steps and moved her leg. It was odd at first, but that was mostly because she hadn’t walked normally in months. The leg itself felt like it was a real leg, like she had never been missing something there in the first place. She rolled down her pants to cover the leg and put on a new pair of boots that had been left by the table, most likely for her. 

Snapping back to reality, Clementine knew she really needed to get out of here or at least figure out what was going on. Why would they give her a leg if she was only brought here for the sole purpose of being questioned? Who the Hell were these people? She didn’t trust this place, after all, the last time strangers had been _oddly_ generous to her, they later tried to feed her human meat.

Voices from the hall were suddenly coming closer to her room, so she grabbed the only thing in her reach to use as a weapon, one of her crutches. She hid on the side of the door so when it opened whoever was coming in wouldn’t see her. 

The door slowly opened and a doctor stepped in, eyes occupied by whatever they were reading on a clipboard until they looked up and saw that their patient was no longer on the table.

“Guar-” He started to yell, before Clementine knocked him unconscious with the end of her crutch from behind. She searched him for a real weapon she could borrow but he had none.

Moving forward, she creeped her head out the door to scan the hallway. Remembering how she had been brought here, she looked towards the entrance of the clinic but saw that two armed guards were stationed there. Luckily, their attention was turned to the outside since they probably never worried about someone breaking out but rather someone breaking in. She started to move in the opposite direction, in hopes to find a different exit in the back of the building but it proved difficult since the clinic appeared to have many different hallways and doors to go through. 

When she was about to turn a corner, she caught site of a guard making his way in her direction. He only had a pistol that was holstered in his belt. Thinking on her feet, she started to use the crutch and pretended to walk with a limp so she looked like she was supposed to be here. It actually seemed to work. Sort of.

Not seeing the girl as a threat, but still suspicious of her, the guard questioned her. “You there, where are you off to?” 

Clementine moved quicker towards him, mumbling a response that the man couldn’t make out, and before he could reach for his gun, the survivor moved with lighting speed and thrusted the end of her crutch into his throat. The action took the wind out of the guard and his hands naturally went to his neck but Clem took this opportunity to give him another good whack on the head, knocking him out. 

She dropped the crutch, replacing it with the gun from his holster. Before she could continue her search for an exit a voice boomed out from behind her.

“Hey, stop! Everyone get over here, we got a situation!” A random watchperson yelled out. He started to train his pistol on her, but she was faster, and gave him a crippling shot to the leg. Nothing lethal, but it would keep him off her.

The sound of rushing footsteps echoed in the halls, and Clem took off away from them, running for the first time in months. She took a left turn, then a right, shooting a few guards on the way and just hoping she would find someway out of the building, but luck wasn’t on her side and she reached a dead end. 

The footsteps were getting closer, and there was nowhere else for her to turn. Another doctor, a short woman with red hair, stepped out of a nearby room, oblivious to what was happening. Clementine grabbed the woman and held the gun to her head. Hopefully with a hostage they would let her walk out of here, a risky move but it was the only one she had as the guards had all caught up with her.

“Let me out of here or I'll gun her down like I did your friends!” Clementine shouted at the human blockade that covered her way out. Multiple guns were trained on her but it was too late to ditch her plan now. “I hear doctors are in short supply these days so I would act wisely if I were you!”

None of the armed men and women seemed to know what to do, obviously no one of significant rank was here yet. 

“Drop the gun!” A few of the guards decided to yell back to her. 

“Not gonna happen, so you all can lay down your weapons because I’m walking out of here, and you’ll let me unless you want to see this woman with a bullet in her brain!” 

The woman in her grasp was absolutely terrified. Clementine had no intention of actually killing her, but she was betting on these guys not calling her bluff.

That didn’t appear to work though as a few impatient guards slowly started to line up shots and move their fingers to the trigger.

“Enough of this, everyone put your guns down!” A new voice broke in, entering from behind the line of guards. They hesitantly obeyed the order, signifying that the new person was one of importance.

Clementine kept her gun to the woman’s head, not letting up until she made her way out. That was until the leader of the pack came into view.

“Clementine?” The voice exclaimed in shock.

Clementine lowered her gun and let the doctor go.

“Jane?” 

She couldn’t believe it. After ditching Jane to be on her own once she had found out that she played her and Kenny and risked AJ’s life in the process, Clem had accepted the fact that she would never see the woman again. She didn’t know if she felt happy or angry, but one thing for sure was that Jane had always wanted what was best for the girl, even if she had a terrible way of showing it.

“Would you idiots put down your guns! She’s with me, and if any of you have a problem with it then you can take your opinion and shove it up your ass. Now get back to work!” Jane yelled at her comrades. Except they all stood there frozen, not quite sure what to do.

“That’s an order!” She demanded, which seemed to snap them all to attention and they followed the command, leaving the hallway and going back to their posts.

Clementine stayed put, still in shock. Jane looked the exact same as she did years ago, but the thought of her being a part of a group was very unlike her.

Jane made her way towards her in a friendly manner. “Jesus Clem, you got old.” She joked as she approached the girl. They stood there for a moment, both not knowing where they stood with the other.

_Fuck it._ Clem thought, and hugged her old friend. The woman jumped in slight surprise at first, but then returned the embrace with a smile on her face.

“It’s really good to see you kid. They told me we had a newcomer but I just run security here so I didn’t hear anything more besides that. If I had known it was you I would have come much sooner. Hell, I had no clue who you were until I saw you, but I should’ve put it together on my way in here, I mean who else could beat the absolute shit out of my guards with a fucking crutch?” Jane said, the smile still on her face as they released from their hug. The smile slightly faded as Jane’s eyes got a glance at the prosthetic.

“Walker bite, but luckily the one good thing your friends did here was give me this leg. I have no clue why though, supplies like these are beyond rare. Where are we Jane? What’s going on?” Clementine questioned.

“Like I said, I don’t really know much about why they brought you in besides something about questioning, but follow me and I’ll show you around.”

Jane took her out a back entrance, and after walking for a bit and catching up with one another, they entered into a part of the settlement that Clementine hadn’t seen before. It was a bustling common area, full of people - kids even. The adults who weren’t busy working on something were talking with each other and appeared to be having a nice time. Nearby, the children were playing hopscotch and laughing. It reminded Clementine of the days before the dead started walking.

Jane broke her from her thoughts as she proudly displayed the community before her.

“Welcome to Wellington.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of Jane's story will be explained in the future so if you got questions, they'll probably be answered further down the line. Always feel free to comment and thanks for reading! Expect the next chapter in a couple of days :)


	6. Chapter 6

Wellington.

Clementine hadn’t heard that name in years. Kenny had fought so damn hard to get her to this place, and she just wished that he could be here to see it. A part of her will always wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t shot Kenny, but she tried not to live with the regret, Lord knows she has enough ghosts haunting her. 

“After we.. Separated… I roamed around for a while, just surviving on my own. One day I came across this place, it had been nearly overrun by bandits but the settlement pushed through. With all the destruction and losses, they didn’t hesitate to take me in for the extra help. Part of me hoped that I would find you and AJ here, after all you always seemed to support Kenny’s idea about finding this place.” Jane spoke but then a brief flash of panic crossed her face, “What happened to AJ? Did.. Is he?” 

“He’s alive, and we are still together. After years of surviving on our own we finally found a home Jane, a family with people that are truly good.” The thought of the school and the people there brought a smile to Clem’s face but her expression quickly turned sour. “Well, everything was going great until your people attacked us and kidnapped me.” 

“Shit, that’s.. That’s not right, I swear that’s not how we do things here Clem. We’ve just been under a lot of pressure lately with the war against another settlement and now they’ve taken one of our leaders as well as a couple of our essential personnel.” Jane began to ramble until a voice from behind interrupted.

“Hey! Jane what are you doing with that girl, she’s my responsibility!” Carter came running over to them, frustration clear on his face. 

“Easy there buddy, she isn’t a threat.” Jane replied in a less than friendly tone.

“Like Hell she isn’t!”

Clementine spoke up, not needing anyone to speak on her behalf. “Carter, I’m not gonna kill or hurt anybody unless they’re asking for it so just cool it. I think it’s about time you gave me some answers too, I know you’re not gonna kill me because if I was so expendable your doctors wouldn’t have wasted so many resources on me. So talk.”

Against his better judgment, Carter dropped his asshole act and he let his guard down a bit. “Look, most of this shit is above my paygrade but the three of us are supposed to meet with Drew and hopefully he’ll have more answers.”

With that said, the trio made their way back to the area where Clem had been brought in. The loading zone was still full of people working and handling supplies, and giving out orders by the gates was Drew. The man rambled off some things to a supply runner then turned his attention to them as they approached. 

“Clementine! Glad to see the leg is fitting well, I heard you caused quite a ruckus in the clinic.” Drew greeted, his hostility towards the girl seeming to have faded.

“Sorry, being kidnapped and sedated isn’t exactly my thing.” Clementine snapped back. “Why am I here Drew?”

“I guess you deserve some answers. Well, I don’t know how much Jane has told you about this place, but we’re at war Clementine. Our enemies, the Delta, have taken some vital people from us, and we need your help to get them back.”

“Fuck your war! Dealing with the Delta once was more than enough involvement in your stupid conflict for me. Besides, you don’t even know me, just yesterday you were bringing me here at gunpoint as a prisoner.”

Carter added to her argument. “I’m with the girl for once, we don’t even know what she’s capable of! We don’t need help from a random outsider, we can handle this ourselves.”

“Carter, that girl and her band of kids at that school destroyed the SS Fitzgerald and it’s crew, something that we’ve been trying to do for years! I don’t know how they did it, but might I add that Clementine here single handedly took down five of our guards in the clinic too.” Drew argued.

“That doesn’t change the fact that we can’t trust her! I don’t care if Jane knew her years ago, she’s a stranger to Wellington and obviously doesn’t give two shits about our war.”

“That’s exactly why we need her!” Drew pointed out to Carter, then turned his head to face all of them. “The Delta have not only kidnapped one of our leaders but two of our scientists. Our sources say they’ve taken them into their main base and there is no way we can break in with the amount of firepower they have. We have to sneak someone in, someone that they don’t know is from Wellington.” Drew explained as his gaze fell to Clementine.

Realizing what the man was insinuating, Clem immediately denied the idea. “Oh no, there is no way I’m going to risk my ass like that. I told you, this isn’t my problem! I have my own group - my own family - that I have to look out for and you have no right to keep me here. I suggest you assholes just take me in one of your trucks and bring me back to my school, actually I don’t even need you to drive me back! Just give me a map and I’ll gladly make my way back on my own.”

Drew turned his head to Jane, hoping she could persuade the girl into cooperating.

“Don’t look at me! I’m on her side! We can’t just take random people and force them to work for us, if we start doing that then we’re no better than the Delta!” Jane argued.

Surprisingly, the next voice to make an input was Carter’s. He looked at Clementine, almost as if he was studying her, like in his head he was trying to figure out if she really was what they needed. After a minute, he came to his conclusion.

“Clementine, I know our first impression wasn’t the greatest.” He began.

“Try fucking terrible.” Clementine muttered, but let him continue.

“But these scientists, they’re working on a cure!” 

“Wait a minute, like a _cure_ cure? Like to stop people from turning? No more dead heads?” The survivor asked in disbelief.

Jane jumped in to clarify what Carter was saying. “Well it’s a work in progress, and it honestly may be a long time until there is any breakthrough but he’s right. Clem, these scientists have been studying the disease, they’re working to find a way to stop people from turning after dying or getting bit.”

“Which is why we really need your help Clementine. This isn’t just about a stupid war between settlements, this is about the fate of humanity.” Drew stated. “Jane is right though, we have to be better than those we’re fighting, so if you don’t want to help, we won’t make you stay. Just remember what the Delta did to your group, I’m sure that they gave you a reason for blowing up their ship. They’re evil, snatching people from their homes, brainwashing them and making them suffer. You have the chance to help put an end to it. I’ll give you until tomorrow morning to make a decision but just… Consider it.” Drew pleaded.

\-------------------------

3 months ago…

Clementine was sitting in Marlon’s old chair in the office, going over logistical things for the school. It had been the same routine for a while now with the raiders gone and no threats besides the walkers to cause any problems for the group. She wondered if this is what she would be doing forever, until now she had always refused to think about the future and just focused on what was in front of her. It may seem morbid, but she doubted she would ever make it to the age of twenty, but now she could actually see herself surviving - no - _living_ well past her twentieth. Hell she may even make it to thirty.

For once, she saw herself picturing AJ’s future too besides just imagining what she would be able to find him for dinner. She’d give him a real childhood, instead of killing things in their free time she would let Louis teach him piano, let him play tag in the yard with Willy and Violet, let him have everything that she couldn’t. He would grow to be tall, taller than she ever was, and he would be a protector just like her. He would work to do good in this terrible world, and he’d certainly make mistakes along the way but Clementine would always be there to help him. One day he may even meet a special someone in another friendly group or any newcomer that would join the school and he’d get to fall in love and be happy, just like how she was with Violet.

Violet. Her beautiful, brave, smart, and feisty girlfriend. Clementine couldn’t imagine her future without her either. They would continue to lead the school together and live the rest of their days peacefully. Having dates on the balcony while looking at the stars, and be each other’s last goodnight and first good morning. Maybe one day they’d even tie the knot after a few years had passed and Clem was older.

A noise from ahead interrupted her day dreaming.

_Speak of the Devil._ Clementine thought as her girlfriend entered the room with a bowl of stew in her hands, placing the food on the desk.

“You missed dinner ya know.” Violet spoke up with a smirk on her face as she had noticed how she had startled the girl who had been deep in thought.

“How do you know I just didn’t want to watch my girlfriend serve me dinner?” Clementine teased, although she really did lose track of time having been preoccupied with her work and her thoughts.

“Are you taking advantage of my generosity Clem?” Violet teased right back.

“Well, I guess I could reward you for the hard work it took to bring me a bowl of stew up two flights of stairs.” Clem smirked.

“Oh yea? What kind of reward would that be?” 

“Hmmm.. How about kisses from your favorite girl?” 

“I don’t think Aasim would appreciate me stealin’ Ruby from him.” Violet joked while Clementine just rolled her eyes with a smile. “I kid, I kid.” Vi put her hands up in surrender as she walked around the desk and hugged her while smothering her face in kisses. 

Clementine laughed as she accepted the show of affection from her girlfriend, then turned her head to give her a proper kiss. The kiss ended up lasting longer than either had intended, leaving them both breathless. Violet pulled away, grabbing the dinner she had brought up and putting it in front of Clem so she would eat. Without hesitation Clementine grabbed the spoon and started to dig in, not realizing how hungry she had actually been until just now.

“What were you thinking about when I came in? Looked important.” Violet questioned casually as she sat on the desk and began to fiddle with one of the pins on her vest.

After swallowing the food in her mouth Clementine turned to face her love with a small smile. “Nothing serious, I was just… Thinking about the future. Well, our future to be specific.” The girl slightly blushed, suddenly feeling a bit childish for dreaming about such silly things.

Violet obviously didn’t think this and furthered the topic. “Oh yea, well what’s the future that you have planned for us? Hope it involves more chicken nuggets and kisses and less raiders and walkers.” She joked as she grabbed one of Clem’s hands and began to stroke the back of her thumb with her own.

Giggling, Clementine replied. “I’ll definitely have to add chicken nuggets into the mix but kisses are a guarantee. I also was just imagining AJ, having a real childhood here and then growing up into a good man, a man who Rebecca, Alvin, and even Kenny would be proud of.”

“With you as his parent? That kid’s gonna be someone great, no doubt about it.” Violet said sincerely.

“Years ago I may have disagreed with you, but being here, having you and the others helping me raise him every step of the way - I believe you.” Clem smiled at her girlfriend as she placed a loving kiss on her hand that had been on top of hers. “As for our future… I plan to be by your side for as long as you’ll have me.” 

“If that’s your plan then you better get comfortable cause that means you’ll be stuck with me forever.” Vi replied with that loving grin on her face that was reserved for Clem only. 

“So it’s settled then? Me, you, chicken nuggets, kisses, and no raiders or walkers to disturb us?” Clementine joked, sketching out their dream future.

“I’m in.” Violet concurred, sealing the deal with a kiss.

\---------------------

Clementine relived the memory in her head as she sat alone outside by a fire in the walls of Wellington. Thinking about Violet brought a smile to her face, she missed her greatly and could only imagine what they must be going through right now. Did they think she was dead? Were they looking for her?

Who was she kidding, if Violet was in charge then there was no doubt they were looking for her, but Clem knew they wouldn’t find her. She was driven hours from the school and Clem didn’t even know the way back. If she decided not to help Wellington then she could go home and be back in bed with her love by tomorrow night. It would be easier that way, it definitely was the smart thing to do. But Clementine knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she walked away from this.

She thought of Mitch, James, Sophie, Minerva, Brody, and even Marlon. Their deaths were all caused by the Delta - their suffering was all the fault of one organization and that suffering may be over for the school, but there were still people out there hurting because of the Delta. How could Clementine just turn her head away from that?

She thought about Lee, remembering the time he had shot a woman who was being attacked by a group of walkers even though her screams of agony would have been perfect for luring the monsters away from him and Kenny. She remembered how he refused to let Ben go when he was dangling to his death on that roof in Crawford even though walkers were making their way up the stairs, seconds away from potentially biting Lee.

If there was anything Lee had taught her, it was that sometimes you just have to do the right thing. Not because it’s easy, not because it’s what will be best for you, but because it’s the right thing to do.

With that, Clementine had made her decision. She was going to help fight the Delta and get Wellington’s people back in the process.

Who knows, maybe those scientists know what they’re doing and she could give Violet her future without walkers after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

It had been three days since Clementine had been taken from the school. Three days that Violet had searched endlessly for any trace of her love but with no luck. No one at the school was giving up on her by any means, there was no way Violet or AJ would even let them if they wanted to, but they had to spend less time searching and more time going back to their regular schedule of hunting, fishing, and working around the school in order to keep their survival going.

Violet was angry, sad, frustrated, and just felt all around terrible. She had never been this distraught over anything - not when her Grandma died, not when her family sent her away to Ericson’s, and not even when Sophie and Minnie had died. Violet had put walls up around herself her entire life and didn’t dare take them down for anyone. That was, until she met Clementine.

The girl was like a dream in Violet’s eyes. She was confident yet humble, intelligent, witty, brave, kind but ruthless when she needed to be, and not to mention _gorgeous_. Maybe by societal standards Clem wasn’t perfect, but she certainly was to Vi. After first meeting the survivor, it didn’t take long for all the barriers around her heart to fall and let someone in for the first time in her life. Violet didn’t regret this either, being with Clementine was the greatest thing to ever happen to her and she wouldn’t trade a single second with the girl for anything. But every good thing, especially love, comes at a price. That price being Violet finally had something to lose.

And she had lost it.

She tried not to blame herself for Clementine’s capture, but it’s all she could think about. What was worse was that AJ blamed himself too, and Violet didn’t know if she could help him with his guilt if she could barely even handle her own. She had to try though.

“Hey AJ, how ya holdin’ up?” Violet asked as she approached the boy who appeared to be deep in thought as he spun the cylinder of his revolver over and over. The boy had slept almost as little as she had, and with night upon them she knew that she should probably get him to at least get some rest.

Continuing to zone out and fiddle with his gun, he replied monotonously. “I’m mad.”

“I’m mad too little guy, but we gotta keep a cool head if we’re gonna find her.” 

The boy looked around the courtyard to see if anyone else was around, but besides Ruby on watch, all the other school occupants had gone to bed. Once he saw they had some privacy, he let his mask fall and started to frown.

“I’m also.. I’m scared Violet. Like really scared. Since Clem saved me from the ranch, we’ve never been apart this long and I don’t even know where she is or.. Or if she’s alive or-” The boy began to ramble, he seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack.

Violet was never good with emotions, but just like Clementine had grown on her, so had AJ. She gently wrapped an arm around him and began rubbing his back as she had seen Clem do once before. 

“I know buddy, but you wanna know something that helps me feel better?” 

“What?” AJ sniffled.

“I remember that Clementine is the baddest bitch I know. Seriously, to survive in this world for this long and raise you at the same time? It will take a lot more than a few guys with guns to put her down.” Violet stated matter of factly.

AJ paused and looked down, contemplating what the blonde had said.

“You’re right. She’s the toughest girl I know! Uh.. Sorry Vi, you’re second though!” The boy spoke now cheerfully.

“Hah, you’re not wrong, I bet she could kick my ass even with one leg.” She joked back.

They sat in silence for a brief moment, being comforted by each other’s presence.

“Did she ever tell you about how she got that big scar on her arm?” AJ spoke up.

Violet knew the exact scar that he was talking about. She had noticed it quite a few times during some of their… intimate activities. She had asked about it once but all she got from Clem was that it was a dog bite. Her girlfriend tended to dislike talking about her scars, due to the tragic stories behind them. It didn’t bother Violet, she understood that people had things they just wanted to forget, Clementine especially. 

“Not really, she mentioned she was bitten by a dog. Said that’s why she didn’t like Rosie at first.”

“Well.. I don’t think she’d mind if I told you the story. She told me about it a while ago when she was teaching me how to do stitches. Apparently bandits had separated her from the person that she was with at the time, Christa I think her name was. One of the bandits chased Clem until she fell into a river and the current took her away. Once she had climbed out of the water she was all alone and was looking for Christa when she found an empty camp. There was a dog there, Clem said it was real thin and must have been starving, but it was nice and even played fetch with her for a little. She ended up finding some food at the camp, and while she was eating it the dog started to cry, wanting some food too. Clementine gave it a bite of the food but then the dog took it all from her and when she tried to take it back it bit her on the arm.”

_Jesus, no wonder she froze when she saw Rosie the first time._ Violet thought. 

“It didn’t stop attacking her and during the fight Clem said she accidentally hurt it real bad. It wasn’t dead but she killed it anyway cause she said it was the.. Mer.. merc.” 

“Merciful.” Violet helped him.

“Yea, the merciful thing to do. She didn’t tell me a lot of what happened after, but apparently she was found by another group and they thought the dog bite was a monster bite so they locked her in a shed and she had to stitch her arm up herself.”

“Fuck.” Violet said under her breath. Whenever she heard stuff like this it made her look back on when they were going to kick the two out of the school and force them back out into this unforgiving world. How could they have been such assholes?

_“Probably pretty good at it by now. Almost like going home for you guys.”_ Louis could be such an idiot sometimes.

“Anyway, if Clementine could do that when she was like 10 years old, then she can handle anything. She’ll come back to us, I know she will.” AJ said confidently, for both himself and for Violet.

“Damn straight buddy. Now it’s late and you should get some sleep, Clementine won’t be happy if she comes back and hears that you’ve been staying up past your bedtime.” 

“Can.. Can I sleep with you tonight? I know I said I wanted my own room but whenever I get.. Afraid.. Clem always lets me sleep in bed with her.” He pleaded.

“Of course, just no hogging all the blankets alright? That just may be the only good thing about Clem being gone.” The blonde joked.

The jab caused the boy to giggle, “And when she snores! It gets so loud sometimes!” 

The pair continued to laugh and talk as they made their way into the school, and once they both got into bed they slept the best they had in days.

\----------------------------------

Clementine woke early in the morning, she hadn’t been able to sleep very well with all that was going through her mind. She exited the makeshift “guest house” and was immediately greeted by an equally exhausted Jane who had been waiting for the girl.

“Good, you’re up. Drew’s been on my ass about getting your answer as soon as possible, so no pressure or anything but have you decided?” Jane asked.

“Well good morning to you too Jane.” Clementine teased before focusing on the matter at hand. “I have decided. I’m going to help you guys get your people back and hopefully strike a blow against the Delta in the process.”

The news seemed to surprise but relieve Jane at the same time. “Thank you Clem, seriously. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had wanted to leave but I know there’s no way in Hell we could pull this off without you.”

“You guys have an actual plan on how this is all going down yet?”

“Sort of, we’re hoping you can add some input but Drew and Carter have been scheming away. We should go and meet them in the armory so we can kick this thing off. The sooner we get all this bullshit over with the sooner you can go home and I can get a good night’s rest.” Jane remarked as she gave Clem a protein bar to eat and they made their way to the meeting.

The armory was impressive to say the least. Triple the size of Richmond’s, the walls were lined with pistols, assault rifles, grenades, and other things Clementine hadn’t ever seen before.

“What do you do with this?” Clem asked as she picked up a long black tube.

“That, my friend, is a silencer.” Drew answered as he entered the room with Carter in tow.

“We don’t really ever use them since there isn’t much reason, but it came along with half the shit we got here after scavenging the National Guard base a few hours away.” Carter added.

“As cool as guns are, why don’t we get to work.” Jane interrupted impatiently.

“Right! The fact that you’re still here tells me you’ve decided to help I hope?” Drew turned to Clementine.

“Yea, just don’t make me regret it.” She sighed.

“That’s good, but also means I owe you a beer Carter.” The man teased.

“What, you bet on if I would help or not?” 

“Indeed we did, no offense but I was sure that you would jump at the chance to get back to your people, but Carter here said something along the lines of ‘No, I can tell that deep down she’s one of the good ones.’” Drew stated in a mocking tone, causing Carter to blush and Clem to laugh.

“What! I just meant that she.. You know.. Is pragmatic! And not bad... For a kid.” He tried to save himself.

Jane was laughing at this too, “Aww looks like big bad Carter actually has a soft spot for you Clem. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say one nice thing about anyone ever. It’s always ‘I don’t trust you’ this or ‘fuck outsiders’ that.”

Everyone continued to laugh as Carter just shook his head in embarrassment. Clementine was honestly surprised that the man had spoken well of her, after all, most of their interactions had been less than pleasant. But she had known since the night she was taken that he was an all talk kind of guy and could tell he was a good person underneath all the hostility. He reminded her of Kenny.

“Ok, ok now seriously let’s focus.” Drew exclaimed as the laughter died down. He then pulled out a rough sketch of a giant base and set it on the table in the room.

“This right here is the Delta’s main headquarters and where our people have been taken. As you can see, it’s big. It’s surrounded by walls and guards with the only way in or out being the main drawbridge.” 

“Wait, a drawbridge? Does that mean they’re surrounded by water?” Clementine questioned.

Drew pointed to the big circle drawn around the base on the sketch. “Oh they’re surrounded by a moat, but not filled with water.” 

“Walkers.” Jane chimed in. 

“Bingo. The base is surrounded by a moat filled with the biters so our only way of getting in and out is the bridge that they control from the inside. That’s why you’re here Clementine. You’re going to walk up to their front door and act like a lonesome survivor just looking for shelter. Hopefully, they’ll take you in and from inside you’ll be able to open the bridge for us to come in and get our people.” Drew explained.

“You can’t just come in even if I lower the bridge, they’ll gun you down immediately.” Clem stated.

“Exactly our problem.” Carter muttered.

Clementine thought for a moment, formulating a plan that would work for the group when it hit her.

“I got it. Just like you guys, they have supply trucks that make runs daily and go in and out of the base right?”

“Uhh, yea?” Drew responded, not sure where she was going.

“So how about this, you guys find one of those trucks and hitch a ride onto the base. I’ll be on the inside and that way I can get you guys without being too suspicious.”

“Perfect, so we have our way in, but then what?” Jane questioned.

Carter spoke up then, “Clementine, before we come in you can conduct some recon undercover and find out where they’re keeping everybody so we can sneak in and out without anyone noticing.”

“We sneak in, and get our people. How do we get out?” Drew asked.

Clementine knew they would need some sort of distraction and cover for them to make their escape, luckily she knew just the thing.

“We get a herd.” She said, and continued her explanation before any questions were asked. “Drew, you could take our truck and lead a group of walkers to the base. They’ll overwhelm them at the gates and we can make our way out.”

“One problem with that.” Jane spoke up. “The Delta has a protocol for herds, they don’t gun them down from the walls, they take their own vehicles and lead them away from the base so they don’t waste firepower or risk being overrun.”

“Even better.” Replied Clementine. “While they lower the bridge to send out their team on the herd, we steal one of their supply trucks and make a break for it too.” 

“So that’s it then? We have a plan?” Drew spoke.

Clementine took the opportunity to sum it up for them all. “First, I get in there undercover and find out all I can about where they are keeping your people. Give me a week in there since I’m guessing there is going to be a lot of processing when they first let me in. On the seventh night, Carter and Jane will sneak in on one of the supply trucks while Drew stays outside the base and draws the herd in. We find your people, and get back to the supply trucks where we’ll take one and make our escape once they lower the bridge to handle the walkers.”

They all nodded in agreement, and began to prepare themselves for the mission. They were leaving first thing this afternoon since they had a couple hours worth of driving until they made it to the Delta base. 

Once Clementine was the last one left in the armory she took a moment to breathe. This plan was borderline insane and pretty much relied on the fact that the raiders would let her in the base in the first place, and even if they did she was going to have to survive a whole week in there. She remembered how brainwashed Minerva had been, how monstrous the group had turned Lilly. She prayed she wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

As Clementine looked down in contemplation, the pin on her chest caught her eye.

“Violet’s gonna kill me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are always welcome!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like angst ;)

The drive to the Delta base took roughly two and a half hours. Clementine paid attention to how they got there, luckily it was pretty much a straight shot from Wellington so she would know how to make her way back if things didn’t go as planned. 

Night was falling and Clementine planned to approach the headquarters first thing the next morning. For now, the team of four camped a decent distance away from their objective as to not get caught while waiting. Drew and Carter were playing cards by the fire, munching on some jerky that they had packed while Jane sat close to Clementine, both propped up against a log and both deep in their own thoughts.

“Tell me about your group Clem. I remember that when we last were together I told you to avoid people and stay alone, but you didn’t take that advice.” Jane asked, breaking the silence.

Clem laughed, “Well it looks like you didn’t take your own advice either.”

“A smart girl once told me that bad stuff happens, even when you’re alone - and when you’re alone you have nobody to watch your back and no one to help you.” Jane remarked solemnly, remembering one of their conversations years ago.

“Did something bad happen to you?” 

“Yea.. A while after we went our separate ways I found out that I was.. Pregnant. I didn’t know what to do Clem. There was no way I was going to bring a kid into this world, not like Rebecca had. I was all alone and I - I considered ending it all there.” Jane frowned.

The news surprised Clementine, but she didn’t say anything and let the woman continue to vent.

“That was until I happened to stumble across Wellington. Half the walls had been blown out, and there were dozens of walkers roaming around the perimeter but I decided to go scavenge the place anyway. Most people would have called it suicide, and maybe that’s why I did it. I didn’t care if I got bit and turned - part of me was hoping I would. But after recklessly taking out so many walkers, people from behind the walls came out to help me. When all the biters were gone, they took me in and supported me. I ended up losing the baby, but that was probably for the best. If I hadn’t found the people in Wellington that day, I’d probably be dead - but now I’m… happy.” Jane concluded with a small smile that she was obviously trying to hide.

“I’m really glad to hear that Jane. I know that we didn’t part on the best terms but you’re a good person and you deserve to be happy with people who care about you.” Clementine stated.

“You know, I find myself looking back on that day a lot. It was so selfish of me to do that, I endangered AJ and you, I risked my own damn life, and I made you kill Kenny.” Jane admitted.

Clementine spent many nights lying awake thinking about that day too. 

_“No… It’s my fault…” A young Clementine whimpered as she crouched beside Kenny, who was drawing his last breaths._

_“No... no, you did what you had to… you don’t ever have to apologize for that.”_

_She held his hand._

_“It’s okay, Kenny. You’re… you’re going to see Katja and Duck. You’re going to see them again.”_

_“You’re always good for a smile.”_

A tear fell from her eye as she remembered her last moment with the man. Clementine truly wanted to forgive Jane for what she had done, but she couldn’t do that until she forgave herself first and that had yet to happen.

Jane spoke up again, changing the topic to better things. “AJ made it you said, how is he?”

Clementine shook the dark thoughts from her mind and replied. “He’s good, sometimes I wonder if I’m raising him right, it’s hard to treat him like a little boy in this world, you know? It helps that we found the group we’re in now, they’re a bunch of kids not much older than I am actually. They have been held up in their boarding school since the start and months ago AJ and I found them after a bad car accident. We’ve been with them ever since.” 

“A group of kids huh? If they’re no adults then who leads them? Actually, that’s a stupid question I already know the answer.” Jane said with a smirk.

Clem laughed, “It certainly didn’t start out that way but after we were attacked by the Delta and we lost some of our people, they put me in charge. I don’t do it alone though, there’s.. A girl.. Violet.. She helps me lead.” She spoke as a blush started to creep on her cheeks at the thought of her girlfriend.

“Clementine! Don’t tell me you’re gettin’ some during the apocalypse now! I wanna know all about her.” Jane teased, picking up on the girl’s embarrassment. 

Clem playfully rolled her eyes, “She’s awesome Jane, I always thought I would be alone - I had planned on it. I mean I had AJ but I never thought I would ever find someone who would.. Understand me. It’s crazy how different my life is because of her, it’s hard to describe but it’s like the world is less dead now that I have her. I wake up in the morning and instead of being afraid, I’m hopeful.”

“Jesus Clem wouldn’t have taken you for a sap.” Jane joked.

“What can I say? Love changes a person.” She joked back.

“I’m happy for you Clem, if anyone deserves some joy and love in this world it’s definitely you.” 

Drew suddenly spoke up from his card game with Carter that seemed to be over. “Alright everybody, we got a big day tomorrow so we should all get some shut eye. I got first watch.”

Clementine nodded in agreement and curled up next to the fire using her jacket as a pillow. The girl fell asleep within minutes.

\------------------------

The walls surrounding the base were enormous and heavily guarded, although the thing that really caught Clementine’s eye as she approached was the ten foot deep moat that was filled with _hundreds_ of walkers. The drawbridge was pulled up, but the watchman on duty spotted the girl approaching from a mile away and was now shouting at her.

“Stop right there! Don’t come any closer!” 

Clementine obeyed, and put her hands up as a show of good faith. Drew had taken all her weapons except for a combat knife to help her play her role as a helpless survivor looking for shelter. 

“What business do you have here, girl?” 

“I’m not really sure where ‘here’ is, but I’m just looking for help! I’m alone and ran out of food days ago, can you please help me?” Clementine begged, acting vulnerable on purpose.

“This look like a fuckin’ charity to you? We don’t help just anyone who comes knockin’ on our door. I suggest you turn around and go back wherever you came from before I shoot you just for askin’!” The guard spat. Clementine was about to try and plead her case until another guard whispered something into the watchman’s ear. He looked displeased with whatever he had been told but did as he was ordered.

“Turns out we need some extra hands around here to help. We’re gonna let you in but I’ll tell you right now that this isn’t some friendly community where you can shoot the shit whenever you want. You will follow orders and do as you’re told or there will be consequences!”

The bridge lowered and two armed men came out to take her inside. They searched her aggressively, ripping her jacket off of her without care to check for weapons. They took the knife she had been equipped with and pocketed it. When they were sure she had nothing else on her they gave Clem her jacket back and pushed her through the gates.

The guards didn’t say much besides threatening her if she stepped out of line while they took her to quarantine to be looked over as she had been at Wellington. Clementine immediately noted that the medical facility wasn’t as nice as Wellington’s and the doctors here certainly weren’t as kind.

Dr. Marx was the woman looking her over, and she acted as though Clem was a burden - an annoying interruption in her day.

“Name?” She demanded.

“Charlie.” Clementine responded, they had decided it was best that they keep her identity a secret just in case she had shown up in any reports for the Delta after the SS Fitzgerald incident.

“No bites.” The doctor said to herself as she took notes on the survivor. “What the fuck happened to your leg?” 

“Walker bite, happened last year.” The doctor eyed the girl suspiciously.

“This is a nice prosthetic you got here. Where’d you find it?”

Coming up with a bullshit response as quick as possible Clem responded, “Killed someone for it not too long ago. My group was ambushed and they ended up taking out everyone I was with. I took out the last of the attackers though and happened to find this on one of them, they must have been bitten too.”

Dr. Marx was silent for a moment, contemplating if she believed the tale or not.

“The people that attacked you were probably from Wellington if it wasn’t too far from here. They’re the only people I could imagine having supplies like this. Lucky for you, you’re with the Delta now and we’re gonna kill every last one of those bastards.” The doctor replied, obviously having taken the opportunity to begin Clementine’s brainwashing. If Clem’s facade was true, she may have actually believed the doctor and had that same spite for Wellington. The survivor knew the truth though.

“You appear to be in good enough shape, could use some more muscle on those bones though.” The doctor spoke coldy. “I’ll recommend you for supply duty, wouldn’t trust a cripple to guard the walls.”

On instinct, Clementine scoffed and rolled her eyes at the comment which she instantly regretted as the woman backhanded her in the face. 

“You will not disrespect your better, girl! You will do as you’re told and never question it. Understood?” Dr. Marx snapped.

“Yes ma’am.” Clementine muttered out, recalling how Minnie had behaved as a soldier for the Delta.

“Good. Now wait here and I’ll get your handler to take you to your indoctrination training.”

_That doesn’t sound like fun._ Clementine thought.

“Charlie, get your ass out here!” Her handler, Pierce, yelled out.

She did as she was told and made her way out of the room. Pierce took her arm in a vice grip as he led her to a small building tucked away in the corner of the compound. Upon entering, Clementine immediately noticed that it was just an empty room. The only object inside being a single chair in the center.

“Sit.” Pierce ordered.

Clementine hesitantly sat in the chair, ignoring every part of her that told her to run. Once seated, Pierce pulled out a pair of handcuffs and locked her hands together behind her. He then proceeded to zip tie each of her ankles to the front legs of the chair.

Clementine _really_ did not like where this was going, but before she could retaliate a strong fist connected with the left side of her face.

Her vision stirred for a moment and when she seemed to get her bearings back, Pierce struck her face again. This time Clementine tasted the blood in her mouth.

“I’m going to ask you a series of questions and you are going to answer them honestly. If I don’t like what I hear then I will hit you again. Nod if you understand.” 

She nodded.

“What was the name of your first friend?” He asked.

“The fuck kind of quest-” Clementine began to say until she was cut off by a strike to the gut.

“Answer the question.” 

Clementine thought back to before the apocalypse, remembering her neighbor who she had Nerf fights with.

“Jake Fredrickson.” She answered honestly. Pierce hit her again anyway.

“Next question. What did your parents do before this all started?” 

She really couldn’t understand what any of these questions had to do with anything but she played along.

“My mom was a doctor and my dad was an engineer.”

Pierce hit her in the ribs this time.

“Have you killed a living person before?”

“Yes.” She answered but wasn’t surprised when she received another blow to her body.

This went on for what felt like forever. She couldn’t tell if days had passed or just hours. Pierce would ask a pointless question and no matter if Clementine answered it with a truth or a lie he would hit her. Pierce would sometimes leave her alone in the room for long periods of time but he would always return to continue the treatment. Clem was hungrier than she had felt in a very long time and her throat was dry as Hell, but she received neither food nor water. She wanted to fight back - she tried to, but her restraints kept her from even standing up. Her head ached more than it ever had, and she was sure that at least one of her ribs had been broken, but Pierce kept going.

“Do you think you will be alive in five years?”

“Yes.” She answered with confidence. Pierce delivered a kick to her good shin.

“What was the last thing you ate before coming here?” 

“Wha - The last thing I ate before coming here!” She exclaimed angrily. “This is fucking pointless! Whatever I say you’re just going to hit me anyway! I could say anything but it doesn’t fucking matter!” 

Clementine braced herself for the next punch but it never came.

“Now you get it.” Pierce said with a smile. “It doesn’t matter. Your family doesn’t matter, your friends don’t matter, anything you’ve ever done or planned to do doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters from now on is the Delta. Now say it.”

Clementine sat in silence for a moment, feeling the pain radiating throughout her entire body. It all seemed to fade away as she looked Pierce in the eye and replied.

“All that matters is the Delta.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is honestly one of my favorite chapters, does that make me a sadist? Anyway, hope you enjoyed and feel free to comment! Sadly, I will be out of town this weekend (with no internet) so the next chapter is going to be posted a day or so late. 
> 
> Also, I tried to stay on brand with Jane's story. If you play season 2 and choose to go with her at the end, you find out in season 3 that she was pregnant and killed herself because of it. So I took that and tweaked it a bit to fit this story.


	9. Chapter 9

The doctors cleaned her up - for the most part - after she was done with the Hell that Pierce had put her through. Her handler complimented her saying it usually took a whole week for people in the “indoctrination chamber” but it only took Clementine three days. The girl, heavily concussed and quite exhausted, just nodded her head, only replying with “Yes Ma’am” or “Yes Sir”.

As the week went on, Pierce stayed as her handler as she took on her job in the supply room in order to make sure she knew what she was doing and didn’t fall out of line. He loved yelling at Clementine even when she hadn’t done anything wrong. He would often knock boxes out of her hands on purpose and then kick her or push her as she went down to the ground to pick it up. His favorite insults were calling her a “good for nothing cripple” or “stupid bitch who should have died from her bite”. When she did actually make a mistake, like labeling something incorrectly or forgetting some of the scavenged supplies in the back of a truck, he really let her have it. Without hesitation, Pierce would grab her by the arm and twist it til near dislocation and hold it there until she admitted what she did wrong and swore to not do it again.

The only time she was free from the man was during her hygiene period which was scheduled from 17:30 to 18:00. Not a lot of time, but Clementine took the free time to peek around the compound instead of really cleaning herself off. She was able to find the prison where they kept their enemies that they didn’t kill or any member of the Delta who needed correction. Clem couldn’t actually go inside the place, but it was a good bet that Wellington’s people were in there.

The whole situation was difficult, but the plan was going like it should. It was the seventh night and Jane and Carter would be sneaking in on one of the supply trucks. It was quite convenient that Clem had gotten tasked to work in the supply zone since she would already be there. 

Although, the survivor started to get nervous when the second to last truck drove in and there was no sign of her comrades. She just kept up her cover though, emptying the vehicle of all the scavenged goods it had found during the day, and did her best to ignore Pierce’s snide remarks. She really couldn’t wait to get away from that asshole.

\---------------------

“Did Drew leave already to start attracting a herd?” Jane asked Carter as she made her way back to their little camp after relieving herself behind some bushes. Tonight was the night that they would sneak into the base and get their people back. Jane just prayed Clementine had survived her days in that Hell.

“Yup, and we should start making our way towards the hot spot.” Carter spoke. The hot spot was the little town nearby that the supply trucks seemed to make their last stop in to search before being overwhelmed by walkers. It was also where the two planned to hop on board one of the vehicles.

Jane nodded and gathered her things. They both had armed themselves to the teeth, ready for any threat inside the walls. They each carried a pistol upgraded with a silencer, as well as each having a combat knife. Carter even managed to find a couple of frag grenades in their armory that he brought along. Jane of course had an extra gun and knife to give to Clem once they made it inside too.

The group was going to be as stealthy as possible so they wouldn’t attract any attention or set of any alarms, but Jane was betting they would still have to take out a few of the bad guys along the way. 

The sun was starting to set, giving Carter and Jane more cover as they approached the hot spot. They waited until the first three trucks took off, leaving the last one to wrap up their own scavenging. They snuck as close as possible, hiding behind some debris and keeping low. They knew that as soon as the two scavengers got into the front of the truck they would have to move fast to get in before they drove off.

Carter and Jane were able to time it perfectly, and hopped in the back just as the vehicle started it’s engine. The two kept themselves hidden behind some of the supplies so they wouldn’t be noticed immediately as the truck made its way into the headquarters. 

Jane gave a quick sigh of relief, everything was going as planned. For now.

\--------------------------------

The last supply truck rolled in and the only two workers left in the zone were Clementine and Pierce. She realized that Pierce was going to be a problem here since he was armed and Jane and Carter would already have to deal with the two drivers that were going to open the back of the truck. The girl hoped that they were on this last truck, because if they weren’t then what she was about to do would get her killed.

Clementine was carrying a box to one of the shelves, eyeing the box cutter that was on a table nearby. She dropped the box, pretending to have done it accidentally.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing there?” Pierce yelled out at her, coming her way with his hand balled into a fist.

“It’s my damn prosthetic! The hinges on my foot get jammed up sometimes, just let me sit down and fix it.” Clementine pleaded.

Pierce let her, but not without giving her a strong slap to the face first. She leaned up against the table and watched Pierce mutter some more insults as he examined all the contents that spilled out of the box she dropped. While he was distracted Clem grabbed the box cutter and hid it in her grasp.

“You expect me to clean up your fucking mess? Get over here and pick this shit up!” He ordered her.

“No.”

“The fuck you just say to me girl?” His eyes flashed with anger as he came at her, ready to give her a beating.

“I don’t like hurting people Pierce, but I have no problem killing monsters.” Clem spoke back, tightening her grip around the box cutter.

“The Hell is that supposed to mean?” He said as he grabbed Clem by the collar of her shirt and prepared to toss her to the ground.

“It means that you don’t matter. It means that the Delta doesn’t matter - because you’re just monsters, and I’ll kill any monster that stands in my way.” 

In a flash, Clementine thrust the box cutter deep into Pierce’s throat, watching his eyes widen as he attempted to gasp for air. She took the box cutter out of his throat and gave a second blow to his head to make sure he didn’t turn, a merciful act.

She turned her head to look at the remaining two threats who were preoccupied opening the back of the truck. They opened the hatch and Clementine swore she heard Jane utter out “Surprise” before the two were gunned down.

Carter and Jane hopped out of the vehicle and were relieved when they made eye contact with their girl on the inside.

“Holy shit Clem, what the Hell did they do to you?” Carter said as soon as he saw the countless bruises and scratches covering her face.

“Oh I’ll kill every single one of these motherfuckers just for that.” Jane seethed out as she went up to Clementine and examined her to make sure none of her wounds were serious. 

“I’m alright, well maybe not alright but I’m still walking so that’s all that matters right now.” Clementine assured the two as she took the spare pistol from Jane, admiring the silencer on it.

“I’d say we have just under an hour to get our people and get back in one of these trucks before Drew gets over here with a herd.” Carter stated.

“Good, the prison isn’t too far from here and if you guys stick close to me I can sneak us past any patrols.” Clem replied, putting her game face back on.

The three proceeded to leave the supply zone after hiding the bodies of those they killed. Clementine never liked killing, but she had little choice here, and after all these assholes did to her and to her family back at Texas Two, she had little remorse.

The streets were bare besides the roaming guards, and by keeping to the shadows and not making much commotion the trio easily reached their objective location. There was one armed woman at the entrance, and Clementine decided it was best if she took care of her.

“Hey, you’re that new girl, Charlie right? Where’s your handler?” The woman blocking her way immediately questioned. 

“Pierce told me to meet him here after hygiene, can you see if he’s inside?” She lied.

“Do I look like your fucking babysitter?” The woman spat but did as she was told. “Fine, just give me a sec.” When she turned around, Clem took her pistol from the back of her waistband and shot the woman in the back of the head.

“Nice shot.” Carter whispered as he and Jane came up behind her.

Clementine just nodded and they made their way inside the prison. There were a couple more guards on the inside but they made short work of them. Despite the Delta being highly equipped with weapons and well trained personnel, they never seemed to expect an attack from inside their walls. The element of surprise can really be a bitch if you’re on the receiving end.

After taking the keys from one of the dead guards, they found the cells where the prisoners were kept, and to say Clementine was shocked was an understatement.

The first room they were in had three giant cages, all filled with children. They were clearly starving and absolutely terrified. Some of the kids weren’t much older than AJ.

“Holy shit.” Jane breathed out in disbelief.

“Our people aren't in this room, I’ll go check the next one.” Carter said, trying his best to ignore the eyes of the terrified youth in front of him.

“Jane, we can’t just leave these kids here. The Delta will do terrible things to them, trust me I know.” 

“What do you suggest we do? Take them all back to Wellington?” 

“Yes! We’ll just have to take a second truck but we can save them all.” Clem pleaded. She knew that it was risky and had the potential to jeopardize their entire mission, but Clementine agreed to help Wellington because it was the right thing to do, and leaving these kids to suffer would go against that.

“Fine, sounds like Carter found our people in the next room so I’ll go help him. Why don’t you check that last room over there so we know we don’t miss anyone.” Jane stated, pointing to the closed door a few meters away.

Clementine held her gun at the ready as she approached the door. She slowly opened it and scanned the room for any more guards but there were none. The room actually appeared to be quite small, and there were no cages in it. The only thing in there were chains attached to the far wall that had someone locked up by their wrists, practically dangling by their feet. The room reeked of blood, fresh and old.

The person chained up was wearing a dirty, white tattered shirt that was covered in bloodstains. Clementine honestly couldn’t even tell if this person was male or female, they had their head down, breathing heavy and with great difficulty. Other than that the room was silent, the figure didn’t dare say a word or even look up at Clementine.

“Hello? I’m here to help, I can get you out of here.” Clem spoke gently, but kept her hand on her pistol, not sure what kind of threat this person posed. 

They looked up and when their eyes met Clementine’s, the girl took a step back.

_Lilly._

“Clementine? This isn’t real, you’re not here. Just a hallucination.” The woman with short brown hair said to herself. 

Against her better judgement, Clementine moved closer to her and with the better view, she really saw the damage that had been done to Lilly. Bruises covered every inch of her, it didn’t look like she had been fed in days - _weeks_ maybe. She had lacerations all over her body, some were old and infected. The fact that Lilly was still alive was astounding.

“I’m real, Lilly. You're not hallucinating.” Was all Clementine could think to say.

Lilly seemed to study the girl a little more closely, shutting and reopening her eyes a few times to see if the image would go away if it truly wasn’t real. Once she realized that Clementine was actually in front of her, she shook her head in disbelief.

“Huh, figures. It seems fate is real keen on crossing our paths.” The woman sadly laughed.

“I thought you were with the Delta? Why are you locked up like this? What did they do to you?” 

“Clementine, you don’t make a mistake and go unpunished in the Delta. I lost the SS Fitzgerald and the crew that was with it. I failed to take the kids from your school and in the process lost months worth of supplies. For that, they are making me face the consequences.” Lilly admitted. 

Clementine honestly had never seen the woman so vulnerable... So weak. Back when they were with Lee, Lilly was always the tough one, making the hard decisions and never taking shit from anybody. That part of her never changed when Clem met her with the Delta. Lilly still called the shots and destroyed any opposition in her path.

“You were always good to me, back at the Motor Inn. I still have the hair tie you gave me.” Clem smiled somberly, remembering the better days. “Sometimes I think back and wonder how things would have been if you hadn’t taken the RV and left us. Lee... He never hated you for what you did to Carley. He understood that anger can make people do crazy things sometimes.” 

This brought a small smile to the wounded woman’s face. “Yea, those were the good ol’ days. I remember sitting on top of that RV and watching you and Duck play soccer. The boy was terrible at it, but you had some real talent there.” She paused and took a deep sigh. “Lee was a good man, he didn’t deserve to die... But life isn’t really all that fair these days.” 

Clementine looked over Lilly, someone who she once considered family. “A lot has changed. We both have changed.” Clementine looked down, eyeing Pierce’s blood that was still on her hands. “This world has made us do terrible things. Turned us into what we’re trying to fight... Monsters.”

Lilly looked at the girl in front of her, her eyes showing a gentleness Clementine hadn’t ever seen before.

“You’re not a monster, Clem. That’s why you beat me. That's why you’re going to beat the Delta. That’s why you’re going to survive in this world. We both have had horrible things happen to us, but I… I let that change me. I let that turn me into someone who can kill a person without thinking twice about it. I can sleep at night knowing what I’ve done. No ghosts haunt me because I don’t regret all the evil things I did even though I know I should. But you, Clementine.. This world has taken you to Hell and back time and time again, yet you still stay the good, kind girl I knew at the Motor Inn. You kill when you have to but you hate it, I can see in your eyes that you do. You lay awake at night with the guilt and the memories of all those you have lost. Every time you make a decision, you choose to do the right thing. You’re strong Clem, stronger than me, stronger than Kenny, you’re even stronger than Lee was.” Lilly said with certainty in her voice.

Clementine’s heart ached. Taking in every word the woman had said.

“You know… You know I can’t let you out of here.” Clementine spoke regretfully. She wanted to help her old friend, but knew that after everything that had happened, she couldn’t.

“I know Clementine, I understand. It’s.. It’s okay. Can you do me one last favor though? The Delta… They aren’t going to let me go anytime soon either.. And I just want to be with my family again.” Lilly pleaded as her eyes drifted to the gun in Clementine’s hand.

Understanding what she was asking, Clem hesitated, but ultimately shook her head in agreement and raised the gun, pointing it right at Lilly’s head.

“Thank you, Clementine. Lee would be proud of the person you’ve become…. And for what it’s worth.. Don’t let my ghost be one that haunts you, you deserve some rest.”

Clementine pulled the trigger and wiped the tears from her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this shit made my heart hurt :( 
> 
> Thank you all for waiting the extra two days for an update, I'm now home with internet and am back to my regular posting every two days. As always, feel free to comment and I hope you are enjoying the story so far!


	10. Chapter 10

_4 months ago…_

Snow had really started to fall at the school, a thick layer covering the buildings and the courtyard. AJ, Louis, and Willy were the most excited, building snow forts and having endless snow ball fights. Aasim and Ruby perfected their own little snowman in the middle of the courtyard for “aesthetic” as Aasim had put it. Clementine and Violet’s favorite pastime in the cold weather was finding the biggest icicles and knocking them down. The two spent hours looking for the best ones, competing with one another on who could find a cooler icicle.

On this particular day, Clementine had woken up early and wrapped up most of the work she had to do by noon. With the afternoon free to do whatever she liked, she searched for AJ in hopes to help him work on the snow fort he had been building. 

“Hey Ruby, have you seen AJ around?” Clementine asked the girl who was currently sitting inside the music room reading up on some old medical textbooks. 

“I sure have, he and Violet took one of the horses down to the river to see about doing some ice fishing since the stream hasn’t been too successful.” Ruby replied with her head still engrossed in the book she was reading.

Clementine trusted her girlfriend and AJ more than anyone at the school, but the fact that they went so far out from the school’s walls without letting her know slightly agitated her. She knew that agitation was solely founded on the fact that she worried like crazy when either of the two left the walls, but it still frustrated her nonetheless.

“Mind if I take the other horse and join them?” Clem asked Ruby, the group’s unofficial stablehand.

“Go right ahead, just holler if you need any help gettin’ up on the ol’ boy.” 

With a brief thanks, Clementine made her way to where they kept the horses. Despite having one leg, she was still able to mount and ride the horses. It took a lot of practice getting the balance right, but with her previous experience riding horses she got it down quickly. 

Using a small stool, she hoisted herself up on the steed and laid her crutches across her lap. She grabbed the reins and with one command they were off to the river.

The ride didn’t take too long, it was certainly much faster than walking the distance. As she approached the river, she saw the other horse tied up to a tree but no riders nearby.

Clementine forced herself not to panic but she couldn’t stop herself from making her horse pick up the pace as she made her way over to the other mare.

Once she tied up her own horse and got herself situated with her crutches, she observed the area around her until she saw two figures on the frozen river. Her heart stopped.

“What are you doing out there? Alvin Junior you get off that ice right now!” Clementine yelled out. Her voice caught the attention of the two on the ice, Violet and AJ, who seemed to be trying to cut out a hole with a couple of chisels.

Violet wasn’t too sure what she had done wrong, but she knew that tone in her girlfriend’s voice. She was in trouble, and so was AJ. 

The boy already obeying the order of his guardian, was making his way off the water and Violet decided to follow suit.

“What’s up Clem? Everything alright?” Violet asked hesitantly, doing her best to avoid her girlfriend’s wrath.

“I broke one of her rules…” AJ muttered out weakly, looking at the ground in guilt.

“Yes you did, and what’s worse is that you didn’t even tell me you were going to do it.” Clementine disciplined, looking straight at the boy. Then she turned her attention to Violet. “What were you guys thinking going out on the ice like that? It’s way too dangerous.”

“Rules? Clem it’s not a big deal, we threw some rocks on the ice to make sure it wasn’t too thin and we didn’t exactly plan on coming out here today, it’s just that the stream had no fish so we thought to check here.” Violet defended herself.

“What if the ice had broken underneath the two of you? No one would have been able to pull you out.. And I wouldn’t.. I wouldn’t be able…” Clementine began to freak out, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as bad memories filled her mind.

Witnessing her girlfriend’s distress, Violet cooled her tone. “AJ why don’t you go check on the horses.” The boy obeyed without question.

Clementine stayed where she was, shaking and obviously trying to contain the wave of emotions that was fighting to break free. Violet wordlessly led her to a rock nearby where they both sat.

“Clem, talk to me.” She asked, not touching her girlfriend in case she was still angry with her. Clementine kept her head to the ground, refusing to make eye contact with Violet. Not having any of it, Violet slowly used her hand to force her to look up. When she saw the tears staining her love’s face, she immediately wrapped her arms around her and held her in a tight embrace.

“I’m.. I’m sorry.” The survivor breathed out between her sobs that were being muffled by Violet’s shoulder.

Violet slowly stroked her back, rocking her back and forth gently like she did whenever Clementine had really bad nightmares. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Just.. Talk to me, okay?” 

Clementine pulled her head from her girlfriend once the tears stopped flowing and she was able to regain some of herself. 

“One of the groups I was with.. The one with AJ’s mother.” Clementine began to say and Violet listened intently since it was very rare that Clem talked about her past with anyone.

“Well it was right after his mother had died. She had turned and I… Anyway, the few of us left in the group were looking for food or shelter since it was Winter and we had nothing. We had taken this guy prisoner after he attacked us, and he claimed he knew somewhere we could go. We walked for a long time but eventually we came across a house that was half constructed. The only thing standing between us and the house was a frozen lake.”

Violet felt like she knew where this was going, but she hoped she was wrong.

“We slowly started to make our way across, but we had to hurry because a pack of walkers had started to follow us. Then things got even more chaotic when the prisoner tried to make a run for it while we were still on the ice.. Kenny went after him and made it across but the rest of us were still working our way there as fast and as careful as we could. Luke… Luke was a good man - one of the kindest people I’d met in my entire life. Most of the people in our group I could have done without but Luke was like the older brother I never had.” Clementine paused for a second, trying to get her composure once again as she felt it slipping at the thought of her old friend. Violet reached out and took her hand to help comfort her.

“He had already been shot in the leg during the recent attack so he was really struggling to get across, but then the ice just cracked underneath him. He stopped moving and tried to maneuver himself safely but walkers were reaching him so he had to hurry. The ice broke and one of his legs fell into the water. Bonnie, a woman in our group who cared a lot about Luke - she kept yelling at me to go over to him and try to pull him out since I was light but at the same time Luke was yelling at me to not listen to her because it was too dangerous and to just shoot the walkers that were coming up behind him… I had to choose.” Clementine’s gaze looked out at the frozen river in front of them, almost as if she was watching the whole scene play over again.

“I listened to Luke and began taking out the walkers, Bonnie was mad and took it upon herself to try to pull him out. The weight was too much and as she got closer, the ice shattered completely and took them both under. It was silent for a moment but then I heard banging on the ice.. Luke was trying to get out. I ran to him without hesitation and started to break the ice with my gun. Jane said it was too late.. Kenny yelled at me to stop.. But I couldn’t let him go without trying. The ice broke beneath me and I fell in and saw him - but Jane was right. I was too late. I stared his lifeless body right in the eyes as he floated away into the depths of the water. Sometimes I wonder if I could have saved him. Maybe if I had listened to Bonnie or if I had been faster.. Maybe I could have..” The girl began to ramble until she was cut off by another tight embrace from her girlfriend.

“I just can’t lose you guys too.” Clementine admitted.

Violet wished she could make all the pain go away. She wished she could take all the bad shit that happened to Clementine and just erase it from existence, but that wasn’t possible. All she could do was hold her lover and tell her everything would be alright.

“Clem, I’m not going anywhere and neither is that boy.” Violet stated confidently as she gestured to AJ over by the horses. “I will never understand why the world has hurt you like it has, but I promise that as long as I have air in my lungs, I will spend every second making sure you never have to hurt like that again.”

The confession brought a warm smile to Clementine, who was feeling a lot better than she was a few moments ago.

“That’s a big promise, sure you can keep it?” Clem joked.

“For you? Anything.” Violet certified as she placed a kiss on her girlfriend’s head.

\--------------------------

Violet looked out at the river, flowing strongly after all of the ice melted. She had come out alone, partially to search for her love who had been missing for over a week now and partially to get away from all the pitying eyes at the school. Everyone was sad with Clem gone, but they felt especially terrible for Vi. Their constant check-ins on her and offerings of help were nice at first but were quickly becoming a bit too much.

She wanted to cry, scream, and hit something all at the same time. There was no trace of Clementine and there was no information about anything anywhere. Part of her just wanted to steal a horse and ride for hours or however long it took until she could find a clue, but she knew she couldn’t do that. She knew that Clem wouldn’t want her to do that. If Violet up and disappeared then there would be no one to lead the school and they would lose an extra set of hands.

AJ and her had been having frequent “sleep overs” the past week, the presence of one another was comforting for both. AJ was obeying Violet’s instructions so far, but she could see that he was just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. The boy did all he could to help in the search for Clementine but when he wasn’t doing that, it was hard to get his mind to focus anywhere else. Vi didn’t blame him though, there wasn’t a minute that went by where she wasn’t thinking about her girl. 

_Is she alive? Is she injured? What if she’s taking her last dying breath right now and I’m not there beside her? Is she scared and all alone, stranded somewhere with only her crutches to lean on?_

Violet did her best to push those dark thoughts away, and sat herself upon a big rock facing the river, the same one she sat on with Clem months ago. The memory of that moment made Violet sick to her stomach.

She hated broken promises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a shorter one (sorry), but the next two are the longest ones in the whole series so I promise I make up for it. Decided to throw in that memory of Luke cause if you haven't picked up on it yet - I love angst and Clementine just happens to have a lot of potential for it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments are always welcome.


	11. Chapter 11

“Clem, you ready to get out of here?” Jane asked as she entered the room that the girl was in. Jane noticed the fresh corpse chained up on the wall and gave a slight nod of understanding.

“Yea, let’s get those trucks and leave. I’m sick of this place.” She replied as she turned her gaze from Lilly’s lifeless body and made her way to the exit.

When she returned to the room where the children had been kept she saw that they were all freed and waiting for instruction. They looked terrified and definitely just wanted to get out of this Hell. 

“Carter took our people back to the trucks already, he thought if we split up we would be more difficult to spot.” Jane stated.

“Good idea, then let’s take these guys and hope that Drew has that herd rolling in any minute now.”

Jane nodded in response and went to scope out the exit of the prison to make sure there were no guards coming.

“Ok everybody, I know you’re scared and have no clue who we are, but just trust us and we’ll take you somewhere safe where you’ll be fed and taken care of.” Clementine spoke gently to the children. They seemed to comply with her words and silently followed her and Jane out of the building and back to the supply zone. There were seven kids in total so being stealthy with such a big group was a challenge but Jane was able to take out the two guards that were in their path before any alarm was raised.

By the time they reached the trucks, Carter was already in one with the engine running. 

“I got our people in the back, but we got a problem. The herd is here but they aren’t lowering the bridge for some reason.” Carter spoke to his cohorts.

“Shit, are we sure there is no other way out of here?” Jane questioned.

“Positive, it’s how they make sure no one gets in or out without their say so.” Clementine answered.

“So what the Hell are we supposed to do now?” Jane let out with frustration.

The three looked at each other, waiting for someone to come up with a plan or hope that one would pop up in their own head. 

Clementine was the one to speak up.

“Jane, get the kids in the other truck and get ready to go. I’ll sneak up to the bridge controls and lower it for you guys. As soon as it’s lowered you both have to floor it out of here before they notice.” 

“What about you?” Carter asked, but he knew the answer.

“I’ll… Don’t worry about me. I’ll find a way out somehow but you guys have to go straight back to Wellington before they know you’re gone and chase after you.” 

Jane detested the plan. “No. No way, Clem. As soon as you lower that bridge they’ll be on top of you and they aren’t gonna let you go without a fight. You’ve risked too much already for our problem, there’s now way I’m letting you throw your life away. I’ll lower the bridge.” 

“It has to be me. They still think that I’m in the Delta so I can get in without much question. If they see you or Carter they’ll know you’re not one of them and gun you down immediately.” Clementine spoke matter of factly. The plan was suicide, but it was their only option.

“Clementine… Thank you. The world could do with more people like you.” Carter spoke as if it was goodbye. There was a good chance it was.

“Clem..” Jane tried to form words. She knew what had to be done and she hated it.

“It’s alright, Jane. Just focus on getting your people and these kids out of here.” 

“Fuck… Fuck you Clementine. I swear to God if I don’t see you back at Wellington I’m going to find you and kill you.” She said as she embraced the girl in a tight hug, tears brimming both their eyes. 

They released one another and Jane got situated in the truck with the children in the back.

“Jane.. If I don’t make it. Go back to the school, find AJ and that girl I told you about, Violet. Tell them that I loved them more than anything in the whole world. Tell them that I’m sorry, and it’s not their fault.” Clem spoke, her voice shaking slightly.

“I.. I will.” Jane promised.

“Wait Clem, take these with you. Never know when they could come in handy.” Carter spoke up and handed her the frag grenades he had brought with him.

With a nod to her comrades, she left the supply zone and made her way to the control room. She didn’t need to be as stealthy as she had been before since she was technically allowed to be in the compound, but she didn’t want to cause any unnecessary suspicion so she kept her head low.

The switch was just above the bridge itself in the overpass, but she had to go through the main control room to reach the stairwell leading up there. The control room that happened to be under watch by three guards at the entrance.

Clementine wouldn’t be able to sneak past them or take them out like she had with the prison guard. She needed a distraction, lucky for her she had some explosives now. Hell, if she was going to die here tonight then she may as well take this whole base and as many Delta assholes with her as she could.

She only had two grenades so she wanted to get the most bang for her buck out of each. Clem remembered that the armory wasn’t too far from here, and although it was under heavy guard, all she needed was a window to toss the grenade in. If this armory was anything like Wellington’s, there should be explosives being kept inside and the damage from her one grenade would cause a large domino effect.

Clementine made her way over, Pierce had taken her there a few times when he wanted to clean his pistol or sharpen knives to pass the time so she remembered where it was. As soon as it came into view, she saw the four guards surrounding the entrance, but none on the back side where there was a small opening in the structure. Perfect.

She crept over and pulled the pin on the grenade, dropping it in the hole. Clem proceeded to run like a bat out of Hell as far as she could from the building and back towards the control room. She didn’t look back, but the sound it made was confirmation enough that it had worked. 

Shouts rang out through the compound as guards rushed to try to put out the fire that was already double the size of the building itself. The chaos was perfect cover for her to run freely around, and when she reached the control room she saw two of the three guards running to help with the explosion while one stayed behind.

Clementine ran up to him, pretending to be in a state of panic.

“You have to help! The fire is spreading!” She yelled and got very close to the guard, practically touching him.

“Keep your bearing girl! And get the Hell away from me!” He started to push her but as soon as he closed the distance between them she unveiled her knife and stabbed the man in the head.

With him out of the way Clementine carefully made her way inside, not sure what to expect.

The room turned out to be empty aside from one woman who had fallen asleep while drawing out some sort of schematics for the Delta’s fortifications. Clementine didn’t want to kill her if she wasn’t an immediate threat, just as she had taught AJ, so she did the next best thing and snuck up behind the woman with the butt of her pistol ready to knock her completely unconscious. 

Clementine’s kindness backfired as the woman immediately dodged the blow and ripped the gun out of her hands. She had been pretending to sleep Clem realized too late.

The attacker frantically tried to take a shot at Clementine, and the bullet hit it’s mark. Clem bit back the pain that was screaming in her left shoulder and knocked the gun out of the woman’s grasp.

In return, she shoved Clementine against the wall with her hands around her neck, strangling her. As the survivor struggled for air, she reached to her back pocket and got a hold of her knife.

The woman was surprised, having thought the only weapon the survivor had on her was a gun. She went to knock the knife out of her hand but the split second of hesitation was all Clementine needed to thrust the knife up into the woman’s head.

Shaking herself off and ignoring the bullet lodged in her, Clem picked up her gun and headed towards the stairwell that led to the bridge controls. It was a few flights, but she hustled to get there as fast as possible. If Jane and Carter were compromised then this all would be for nothing.

She opened the door to the overpass and made eye contact with two armed men who were in charge of the controls.

“You’re not supposed to be in here.” One of them stated, slowly approaching her. His partner stayed put and started to cautiously draw his gun.

Clementine didn’t say anything but once the first guard was in arm’s reach she pulled out her pistol and shot him in the head. The second man started to open fire at her but she was using the dead body in front of her as a shield and quickly fired back, putting him down too.

Not wasting anymore time, she examined the controls and after finding the right switch, she lowered the bridge. From the overpass she could see the large herd of walkers that Drew had gathered, the fires from the base were drawing their attention and they were making their way to the bridge.

The next thing she saw were two sets of headlights zoom across the bridge and speed off past the herd and in the direction of Wellington. 

“They made it.” Clementine breathed out in relief. Now she just had to pray she could make it out herself. The incoming herd definitely put a time limit on her escape, so she held her gun at the ready knowing the lowered bridge had to have drawn the attention of at least a few people. 

She opened the door to the stairwell and instantly heard the shouts of a few guards entering the stairwell from below. Without a second thought, Clementine took her last grenade and dropped it down below, taking shelter back in the overpass.

The explosion rang out through the building, and when she went back into the stairwell she could hear a few groans from below. She quickly and carefully maneuvered down the stairs, jumping over gaps in the steps that had been created by her grenade. When she reached the bottom she saw only one survivor, the entire left side of his face had been blown off and he seemed to be missing his left arm as well. 

The sight reminded her of the man who was burned alive back at the Ranch. The man who she had killed with mercy. She decided to show the same mercy here.

Once she made her way out of the control room and back into the open compound, she really saw the damage she had done. The fire from the armory had spread, and there wasn’t exactly a fire hose to put it out. That didn’t stop them from throwing buckets of water at it to try to contain it though.

Focusing on the task at hand, she ran to the “farm” which was a small section of the compound where they kept livestock for food and hopefully a horse. 

When she got there she didn’t see anyone around but she didn’t look too closely since she was on the clock. The chickens started to cluck at the sight of her in their territory but she ignored them as she searched around the area until she saw a small stable where there were a couple of horses.

_Perfect._

She sprinted over to one of the steeds and started to mount it until two strong hands grabbed her from behind and threw her to the ground.

“Now what the Hell do we have here? A deserter?” The guard exclaimed as he pinned her to the ground. He then noticed the gun on her and tossed it far from her grasp as she struggled under the grown man’s weight.

As he continued to try to get her under control, she spit right into his eyes. The guard went to wipe it off as he cursed her and Clem took the opportunity to use one hand to grab the knife that the guard had strapped to his own belt and stab him in the leg with it.

The man howled in pain and fell to his side, giving Clementine the chance to get out from under him. She started to get to her feet but her opponent reached out and grabbed her by the foot, causing her to fall and smack her head on the rough ground.

She saw stars but knew she had to keep moving. She couldn’t quite tell what she was hitting but she kept kicking, landing a few blows to her attacker until he released her foot.

He did, and they both now scrambled to their feet trying to get up faster than the other. The man still had a knife in his leg so Clem was able to get up faster and she searched for her gun. When she spotted it she practically jumped to it but not before she was body slammed into the side of the stables. He landed a few strong punches into her gut, taking the wind out of her, but as he reeled back for another hit she kicked right where the knife was lodged in his leg.

The pain caused the man to take a few steps back, but he was relentless and immediately slammed her into the stables once more, although this time the wooden structure gave out and sent them both to the ground once more.

They both looked for a weapon, Clem saw the gun just a few feet from her but the guard found his weapon first as he ripped the knife out of his leg. Clementine hurriedly scooted away from his reach but he was able to get one strong stab in and landed the knife into her left leg. 

Too bad it was a prosthetic.

Taken aback by the failed strike, the guard froze for a second giving Clementine enough time to grab her gun and shoot him square in the head.

Her body was aching. Not only did she still feel blood seeping from her bullet wound but she could feel blood dripping down the back of her head, she must have split it open during the fight. 

“Have.. to keep... moving.” She spoke aloud as she forced herself to her feet and mounted one of the horses.

She sped towards the bridge as fast as possible, grateful that it was still lowered. 

Sadly, that relief left as soon as she saw the herd just a couple of yards from the bridge. It was going to be a close one.

She forced the horse into a full sprint, making her way across within seconds. She was so close to the herd that a few walkers actually reached out to her and she could have touched them if she had leaned down.

Clementine continued to ride until she had put a decent distance between her and the base. It was still dark out and the sun wouldn’t rise for a few more hours. She stopped and looked back at the headquarters.

The fires from the base lit up the surrounding area like a beacon. Hundreds of walkers had made their way to the commotion, crossing the bridge and overrunning the place. If Clementine listened close enough she could hear the screams from within. If she had been stuck in there a second longer one of those screams would have been her own.

She turned away from the chaos and looked in the direction of Wellington. It was dark, but the stars seemed to be shining extra bright tonight to give her enough visibility.

Clementine smiled, looking at all the constellations in the sky.

“I’m coming home Vi.” She just had to pray she didn’t bleed out first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lot's of action in this one, hope you liked it :)
> 
> Only two more chapters :(


	12. Chapter 12

The sun had risen and Jane, Carter, and Drew had all just gotten back to Wellington. The mission was a success, they saved their people and crippled the Delta if not destroyed them. They had seen the carnage that Clementine caused as they drove away from the explosions and the incoming herd, there was no way the Delta could survive that. They all just hoped Clementine could.

The two scientists and one of Wellington’s figureheads they had saved hadn’t been too roughed up, but they were getting checked in the med bay regardless. The children they rescued were also being treated for injuries as well as being fed and taken care of. They weren’t quite sure what would happen with them, but the settlement had extra room for them if they wanted to stay.

Jane wanted to get back in one of the trucks immediately and drive back for Clementine but Drew and Carter held her back, telling the cold truth that there wasn’t going to be anything left of the base to search. Jane wished it had been her instead, she wished it had been anyone instead of Clementine who had to risk themselves. The girl has done the world so much good and in return it’s only treated her like shit. It wasn’t fair.

“There’s a chance she made it out. She’s a clever one, if anyone would find an escape through that chaos it would be her.” Drew said, trying to comfort Jane as well as Carter and himself who had all grown fond of Clementine.

“We shouldn’t have just left her, we should have tried harder.” Carter stared at the ground and kept shaking his head in anger.

Neither Jane nor Drew refuted his point, they all regretted how it all played out. The only thing they could do now was sit silently and fill out their reports from the mission together which seemed to take forever to do with all that happened.

“We got someone approaching the perimeter!” A watchman from the gates suddenly shouted.

The three didn’t hesitate to run and see who it was for themselves, dropping any papers they had been filling out. The gate opened and a few guards kept their rifles trained on the incoming stranger. Whoever it was was riding in on a horse that looked almost as exhausted as the rider. They must have been traveling for hours.

As the figure got closer, Jane couldn’t really see the face of the person but she could see what they were wearing. As soon as she saw the white and purple cap she broke out into a sprint, ignoring the shouts from the guards.

The girl looked like absolute shit, covered in blood and ash but she was still alive. Barely.

“What.. Is there something on my face?” The girl huffed out, smiling through the weariness and the pain. 

Jane just shook her head with a smile and helped her down from her mount. Once she was on her own two feet, Jane wrapped an arm around the girl to support her as they made their way inside.

“Tell them to be ready in the clinic, she’s gonna need some help.” Jane shouted to a few of the guards who obeyed her command.

Drew and Carter ran to the survivor and helped Jane carry her in. At this point she was falling in and out of consciousness from the blood loss.

Once they made it to the clinic the doctors immediately took her into their care.

“Just keep fighting a little longer Clem.” Jane said to the girl as she was put on a stretcher and rolled into an operating room.

\----------------------------------

When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was an open road ahead of her. She was sitting in the passenger seat of a car and the radio was playing a song she faintly remembered hearing when she was a kid.

“Something on your mind, Clementine?” The person who was driving asked.

When she turned her head to look at him she was taken aback. 

“Kenny?” 

“Well don’t look so surprised, I know Lee’s usually the one who talks to you but I was missin’ my girl too.” He said with a smile. She noticed that his eyepatch was missing and his face was completely healed.

“Am I… Dead?” She asked.

“Well I’d say that’s up to you.” He stopped the car and handed her the keys. “If you wanna stay here, then you can take the wheel and keep drivin’. If you wanna go back then this here’s your stop, just get out of the car.”

She paused, looking at the keys in her hand. Then she looked up ahead and in the distance she could see… Peace.

She saw her parents, she saw Lee, she saw Luke, she saw all the people who she had loved and had lost. She could be with them if she drove forward just a little more. If she took the wheel then she knew there would be no more pain, no more death, no more blood. If she just put the keys in the ignition then things would be peaceful, like they had been before the dead started walking. It sounded nice.

“I know it’s hard. I’ve had to make this decision myself a couple of times.” Kenny spoke again, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Clem looked away from what was in front of her and took a glance in the rearview mirror. There was pain, there was death, and there was blood. There were sleepless nights and haunting ghosts. 

But there were other things in the rearview mirror too.

There was Violet, AJ, and the rest of her family at the school. There was love and laughter. There was hope.

“I’m sorry, Kenny. I have to get out here.” 

He smiled proudly. “Don’t be sorry, I know Lee and I didn’t raise a girl who would give up so easily. You got a family now Clem, and that is always worth fighting for. When your fight is really over, we’ll all still be here waiting for you.” He squeezed her hand, but Clementine rejected it and reached to give the man a big hug instead.

The two held each other for a moment. Clementine took the opportunity to remember all of his features and the sound of his voice before she would have to leave him again.

They released one another and Clem turned to exit the car, trying to fight back tears as she stepped out.

“Give Alvin Junior an extra big squeeze for me, okay? And never forget how proud I am of you, Clementine.” Kenny said. 

When Clem turned back around to reply he was gone, and so was the car. It had all been replaced by the view of a room in the clinic back in Wellington.

Her body ached all over, and she felt the stitches that were in her shoulder and the back of her head. Nevertheless, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and slowly got down to her feet. It probably would have been wiser for her to get some more rest but she wasn’t going to go to sleep until the next place she rested was in her bed with Violet.

She exited the room and saw Carter asleep on the ground outside her door. The sight made her laugh, and she couldn’t resist giving the man a light kick to wake him up.

“Ow, hey!” He exclaimed as he was awoken from his slumber. When he realized who it was who had kicked him, he jumped to his feet and gave the girl a big bear hug.

“Easy there, you’re gonna rip some of my stitches out if you squeeze too hard.” Clem joked as she hugged him back.

“I knew you wouldn’t die! You’re too badass for that sort of thing.” He spoke cheerfully as he released her. The interaction made Clementine smile, just a couple weeks ago this same man wanted nothing to do with her. Times had certainly changed.

“Where’s everyone else? Did the kids and your people make it back okay?” She asked as he led her out of the clinic and into the sunny outdoors. Summer was just around the corner and the weather was showing it.

“Jane and Drew had to get back to work, being important people and all, but I said I’d keep an eye on you and take you to them if - when - you woke up.” He said, catching himself mid sentence. “As for the people we brought back from the Delta, well the scientists are off doing whatever it is they do and the kids are still being tended to, but the woman, one of our leaders, actually said she wanted to talk to you before you head back to your school.” 

“So who are we seeing first?” Clementine asked.

“They actually should all be getting out of a briefing right now... So all of them.” Carter replied as they approached a building where a few people she didn’t recognize started to exit. Then she saw Jane and Drew make their way out and they both smiled and came to greet the girl as soon as they saw her.

“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you are like a cockroach Clem. Goddamn impossible to kill you.” Jane said with a smirk as she gave the girl a playful nudge.

“It’s a shame you gotta leave, we could use someone like you in Wellington.” Drew spoke.

“Drew, where’s that outsider who helped us? I wanna meet them.” A new voice broke in from behind.

“She’s right here Ma’am.” Drew answered with a professional tone. Clementine deduced that this must be the leader that she helped save from the Delta. 

Drew stepped out of the way so the woman could see Clementine.

“I told you to stop calling me Ma’-” The woman started to say but she froze when her eyes came in contact with Clementine’s.

It had been years, but the survivor would know that high bun anywhere.

“Christa!” She exclaimed as a big smile spread across her face.

Christa slowly walked towards the girl, like she didn’t believe her eyes. But when she was in arm’s reach she placed one hand on Clementine’s shoulder and the other on her cheek to confirm that it was the girl she thought it was.

Then Christa laid eyes on the hat that was on her head, and wrapped Clem in a big embrace without hesitation.

“You’re okay… All those years ago.. I thought..” Christa spoke out, tears brimming her eyes.

“I know, me too.” Clementine said as she returned the hug.

The two broke apart and neither could stop the big smiles that were stuck on their faces.

“I take it you two know each other?” Carter interrupted.

“Jesus Clem, is there anybody here who doesn’t know you?” Drew chuckled.

“Unlikely, she’s not the kind of person that you forget.” Jane stated.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and the group of five made their way to the common area to eat some food and talk before they sent Clem on her way.

They sat around an old picnic table, similar to the ones at Texas Two and everyone enjoyed a bowl of rabbit stew. Clementine wouldn’t say it aloud, but Omar’s dish was far better in her opinion.

Clementine told them all about her life after her and Christa separated, sparing some of the tragic details. Jane interrupted to add her own viewpoints on the parts of it that she had been involved in, claiming she wasn’t _that_ much of an asshole as Clem told them all about her “every man for themself” persona. She told them about the New Frontier, about AJ, and about her new family at the school that she couldn’t wait to get back to.

Christa expressed how amazed she was that the girl had gone through so much and still kept her head on straight. The woman also told Clem how she had searched for her until she made her way to Wellington. The community took her in and she was one of the few to survive the bandit attack, automatically putting her in the position as one of the leaders of the place. She found that she was very good in the role and that she actually enjoyed it as well.

The conversation had lasted a few hours, and now it was late in the afternoon which signaled it was time for Clementine to go before it got dark. Wellington decided they would repay Clementine for her help by giving her one of their vehicles and as many supplies that would fit in the back of it. 

Clementine promised she would visit Wellington in the future and bring AJ and her girlfriend for everyone to meet next time.

With a final goodbye to her old friends, as well as her new ones, Clementine got into the truck and navigated her way back home.

\-----------------------------------

Violet wasn’t on watch tonight, but after two weeks of sleeping without her girlfriend she was tired of trying to get a good night’s rest that would never come. AJ was back in his room, moving on from sleeping in Violet’s bed to having sleep overs in his own room with Louis. 

Truly giving up on trying to sleep, Vi got out of the bed and strapped on her boots, deciding she would pull an AJ and go on patrol.

When she stepped outside she could see the constellations shining in the sky. It brought her comfort to know that no matter where Clementine was, they would both always be looking at the same stars. 

Willy was up on the watchtower, keeping an eye out for any threat although they hadn’t seen anything besides walkers since Clem was taken. 

Violet made her way over to the graveyard. She looked at all the tombstones they had planted and she found herself wondering if Tenn was in that good place he always imagined he would be with Sophie and Minerva. She hoped he was.

“Hey, I see something out there!” Willy started to shout, disrupting her thoughts.

Violet was betting it was just some walkers, Willy tended to be jumpy at the sight of even the smallest movement. She made her way over to him anyway, just to make sure it wasn’t anything serious. 

When she got to the gate, she immediately reached for her gun that she now kept on her as she saw headlights approaching.

“Willy, go get everybody and tell them to arm themselves and get into their defensive positions.” Violet ordered the boy who was now scrambling down the tower. He nodded in understanding and went off to do as he was told.

Violet recognized the truck as it pulled up, it was the same kind of truck that Clem had been taken away in. Anger coursed through her body as she readied herself to attack any bastard that got out of that vehicle. She would do whatever it took to find out where Clementine was.

The engine of the car turned off as it put itself in park on the outside of the gate. The lack of headlights made it difficult to see the person getting out of the driver seat.

“Put your hands up and step near the torch so I can see you.” Violet demanded as she pointed the gun in the general direction of the intruder.

The figure didn’t say anything but did as they were told and made their way into the light. 

Violet dropped her gun.

“Clem..” She said aloud as if she almost didn’t believe it was her.

“It’s me Vi. It’s me.” The girl replied with a big smile, trying and failing to hold back her tears of joy and relief. The past two weeks had been the longest of her life, and she almost didn’t make it back. But now she was standing in front of her girlfriend, the only thing between them being a rusty old gate.

Violet practically sprinted to the gate and unlocked it. As soon as it swung open, the two lovers embraced one another, holding onto each other as if their life depended on it. Clementine started to cover Vi’s face in kisses, the face she had missed more than words could describe. Violet removed her hands from the embrace and moved them to Clem’s face, holding it firmly as she placed a proper kiss onto her lips. The two had kissed hundreds of times at this point, but none of them had ever had this much passion, desperation, or love in it before.

When they pulled apart for air, they looked one another deep in the eyes. Confirming that this wasn’t just a dream but reality.

“I love you so much Clem. I’m so sorry I let them take you, I shoul-” Violet began to ramble until she was cut off by another kiss.

“I love you Violet, and don’t you think for a damn second that any of this was your fault.” Clementine spoke sternly.

“Clem!” AJ yelled out from the entrance of the admin building. The entire group had come out to see the commotion, they all were armed as they were supposed to be, but soon lowered their weapons when they saw who the intruder was.

“Goofball!” Clementine smiled and ran to hug her boy. She nearly squeezed the life out of the boy who was squeezing as hard as he could in return.

“I missed you so much AJ, I love you so so so much my little goofball.” She said. Normally the statement would embarrass the boy but he didn’t care right now. 

“I knew you’d come back! Violet said you were the baddest bitch - sorry swear - but we knew you would come back and you did!” He cheerfully exclaimed.

“She said that huh?” Clem turned her head to look at her girlfriend who seemed to have a weird expression on her face. Clementine then turned to look at the rest of the group’s faces and they all had a similar look.

“What?” Clem asked.

No one seemed to be able to form words, but luckily for Louis he was used to that by now so he frantically started to shake his left leg around and point at it as if they were playing charades.

Clementine suddenly realized that they were probably _very_ confused as to why she was walking on two feet.

“It’s a prosthetic.” She said as she pulled up her pant leg to show the group.

“Where? How? What?” Ruby uttered out in total confusion.

“It’s a _really_ long story. One that I think I’ll tell you all tomorrow if you don’t mind because I think I may pass out from exhaustion if I stay awake a minute longer.” Clem confessed. 

They all understood - for the most part - and one by one everyone gave her a big welcome back hug before going back off to bed.

AJ refused to go back to sleep, stating that for the rest of the night he was going to post watch outside the door of Violet and Clem’s room. She didn’t have it in her to protest.

The two lovers entered the room hand in hand, not wanting to let the other out of their sight. They didn’t say much, both letting the stress and lack of sleep over the past two weeks wash over them as they crawled into bed together.

They held each other tight, and before the exhaustion took her, Clem smiled.

She was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Christa. Ok so when I wrote this (I prewrote the entire series before posting), I knew I wanted to tie up as many loose ends as possible (ie Wellington, life at the school, Jane, Lilly, etc) so Christa fit into that since she also had a connection to Wellington in the actual game so I knew it wouldn't be too far-fetched to have her there. Overall, I battled with wanting to tie in a lot of the stuff we already knew from the games without seeming like it's unrealistic to have all these past characters and places be there - I like to think I did a good job at that but would love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> 2\. Kenny. I didn't do it on purpose but I feel like this series had a focus on Kenny's impact on Clem, I'm not mad about it since I love that man and his beard so it was enjoyable to write him in. 
> 
> 3\. As always, thank you for reading and feel free to comment! The next and final chapter will be the epilogue so it is pretty short (sorry), but it wraps up this tale nicely. :)


	13. Epilogue

In the midst of her sleep, Clementine had turned on her bad shoulder and the sudden pain awoke her. She looked around the room, noticing that Violet was still asleep cuddled up against the girl. The sun was still rising so it must have been early in the morning, she could get comfortable again and fall back asleep if she tried but she was too excited to be back home with her family to want to do that.

Clementine slowly crawled out of the bed, doing her best not to wake her partner. The temperature in the stuffy room was very hot, so she decided to take off the long sleeve shirt she had still been wearing but she left on the old sports bra she had underneath. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she made her way around the room and it caused her to wince.

She hadn’t actually gotten a good look at herself in Wellington after the doctors had taken care of her, but her time with the Delta was clearly shown on her body. The doctors had done a fantastic job stitching up her bullet wound, so the injury didn’t look too bad. She noted that she would have to have Ruby help her take the stitches out later. 

The doctors had also confirmed that a couple ribs had been broken after her time with Pierce, so there was a lot of bruising and redness around her upper torso. Those weren’t her only bruises either, the constant beatings she received on top of the rough escape from the Delta left her with the markings all around her stomach, arms, and on her back. She had no doubt there would be some on her legs as well.

There were more stitches on the back of her head, but most of that was covered by her hair so it was hard to see. The faint headache she was experiencing was also a sign that she was still recovering from a concussion. Clementine had to admit, this was probably the worst shape she had been in in her entire life. Lucky for her, she had been treated by people who were _kind of_ professionals, and all her injuries would heal overtime with rest.

“Holy shit.” Violet gasped out from behind Clementine. The girl had awoken and was sitting up in bed, eyeing the battered body of her love. 

Before Clem could say anything, Violet jumped out of bed and started to gently examine the girl from up close. Clementine could practically feel the anger radiating off her girlfriend.

“What the fuck did they do to you? I swear I’m going to find them all and put a fucking bullet in each of their heads.” The fretting girl ranted.

Clementine turned and took Violet’s face in her hands to get her to stop moving about frantically and calm down.

“It’s okay Vi, the people who did this to me... They’re gone for good. And I’m back home now, back with you, in your arms, in our bed. It’s okay.” Clementine said, although it seemed she was trying to convince herself just as much as Violet that everything was fine.

The blonde didn’t have much else to say, but she gently wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and proceeded to kiss every bump and bruise littered across her body. 

After an hour or so of cuddling and enjoying some private time together, the two lovers were disturbed by a knock on the door.

“Clem, Violet, are you guys awake? Can I come in?” AJ’s voice rang.

Clementine gave her girlfriend one final kiss and threw her shirt back on before giving the boy permission to enter.

“Everyone’s up and we’re waiting on you two to eat breakfast together. Louis mentioned you two might be busy but then Ruby hit him and told me to come knock on the door before coming in. Anyway, can you guys get up! Clem, I found this cool rock outside the school while I was patrolling and I want to show you after we eat!” The boy exclaimed with excitement.

Clementine laughed, “Alright kiddo we’re comin.”

The pair rolled out of bed for the second time that morning, and Violet went to help her girlfriend up out of habit but then realized that Clem no longer needed the assistance with her new leg. So instead of handing Clementine her crutches, she was able to give her hand to hold instead. It was silly, but the two had never actually walked and held hands, the crutches or the wheelchair were always in the way.

The realization brought a big smile to Violet’s face as she thought of all the things Clementine could do again with her new leg. They would be able to dance, go up to the bell tower, and Clem would finally be able to go out and hunt and scavenge like she had missed doing. 

“What are you smiling about?” Clem teased her girlfriend as they walked to the courtyard.

“I’m just really happy that you’re back home.” Violet replied, giving her love’s hand a tight squeeze.

When they finally made it outside, they saw how all the food had been set at the big picnic table and all of the others were waiting on the pair to get up and join them. AJ ran ahead of them and sat down next to Louis, then patted the two open spaces to the right of him so the girls would sit there.

The group spent the next couple of hours catching Clementine up on all that had happened while she was away. It had only been two weeks, but they were determined to fill the girl in on every single detail. From what Omar had cooked each meal to how many walkers they had dealt with, they made sure Clementine wouldn’t feel like she had missed anything.

In return, the survivor told the group all about Wellington and the Delta. She told them about her friends in Wellington and how she ended up with a new leg, a truck, and months worth of supplies for the school. Clem was brief about her time at the Delta base, but she informed them that the initiation into the group was less than welcoming. They all seemed to understand. 

She told them how she rescued a group of children and some others in addition to her destruction of the Delta headquarters. She left out her encounter with Lilly, although she would probably tell Violet about it later. She also left out how suicidal her escape from the Delta had been, that part she definitely would never tell Violet.

“So you’re saying the psychos who broke into our school and kidnapped you were the good guys?” Louis wrote out and displayed to the group.

“Yup, Drew and Carter are actually pretty nice when you get to know them.” She answered.

“And you actually blew up the entire base and sent a herd of walkers inside?” Ruby asked.

“If I’m being honest that’s probably the least surprising part about the whole thing. I mean it is Clementine we’re talking about here.” Aasim cut in. The entire table nodded in agreement.

“I guess it’s good we have some friends on the outside now. I mean, isolation is nice and all but it’s nice to know that if we ever get booted from this place then we have somewhere to go.” Omar spoke up.

“Yea, they said anytime we want to visit or trade we are more than welcome to drop by. It’s a decent distance away from here but by horseback or in the truck it only takes a few hours.” Clementine assured. 

“Well, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that it’s good to have you back Clementine.” Ruby said as everyone prepared to get back to work.

Clementine smiled, giving the little boy to her left a playful pat on the head and squeezed the hand of the girl to her right. 

“It’s good to be back home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading, commenting, and kudosing!! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> No idea if I'll ever write for TWDG fandom again but I will say that I just finished The Last of Us Part 2 and I may need to do some writing as therapy after that. 
> 
> Stay safe out there everybody, and thanks again for the support. :)


End file.
